Milk Cow Blues
by EHfan
Summary: While working a case in Sacramento, Jacob and Rachel discuss the parameters of their relationship.  Felix has a relationship surprise or two himself.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This story is set right after my story "Snow Day." I've felt for a while now that Rachel and Jacob needed to have a conversation about how their relationship would impact their work lives. Then in my story "The Hospital" Rachel casually mentioned a 'stunt' Jacob had pulled in Sacramento. And I thought that story would be fun to tell. Somehow or another the two stories merged in my mind and this is the result. The title of this story is a tribute to a Willie Nelson song.

Disclaimers: Done for fun, not for profit. So WB, JB, and Steven Gallagher have nothing to worry about from me.

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Jacob Hood stared at Rachel Young. His face was blank, but his eyes were pained.

"Fine, but I wish, _Agent Young_, you had informed me about your change of heart a little earlier. I could have easily arranged for your transfer while you were on vacation. It would have been…less… painful that way."

Jacob turned quickly and vanished through the connecting door to his own room, closing it behind him.

Rachel stared at the closed door, a shocked expression on her face. _'Shit, he thought I meant…?'_ Shaking her head Rachel flopped down on her bed cursing the case that has brought them to Sacramento, the world at large, and one Dr. Jacob Hood. _'How could someone who's supposed to be so smart be so damned stupid?'_ She closed her eyes, reviewing recent events.

It had been two weeks since she and Jacob had become lovers. Her lips involuntarily curved into a smile as she remembered that weekend. They had been snowed in together in his DC apartment. Growing up in Arizona, she had always hated the cold and snow, but now she had a new appreciation for it.

That weekend had been perfect. Finding out that Jacob loved her as much as she loved him. Realizing that he had no problem in keeping their relationship from the Bureau. The snow had left them totally isolated and they hadn't left the apartment for two days. They had spent the time talking, watching old movies, and making love. Rachel purred appreciatively as she remembered their love-making.

She had been pleasantly surprised to find that Jacob was so passionate in bed. He had always seemed a bit embarrassed whenever the subject of sex had come up during their cases. Then there was the way he seemed so uncomfortable when women flirted with him, expressed their admiration for him. She had imagined that he would be a gentle, somewhat tentative lover. But Jacob had exhibited in bed the same intense concentration and attention to detail that he brought to his work.

Then there was the talking. Rachel smiled; she had become used to Jacob's need to talk, to explain, to teach. It never occurred to her that Jacob would have the same compulsion to explain what he wanted to do to her in bed. She had been a little shocked, but very turned on, by the explicit, erotic things he whispered as he touched her, made love to her.

Even better was what happened when he finally stopped talking. When his attention had been claimed by her body and he concentrated on skillfully using his hands, his mouth and his cock to bring her to climax again and again. Rachel has once wondered what it would be like, to be the center of that laser-like focus; she shivered pleasurably as she remembered their all too brief time together.

That was the root of their current problem. Their time together had been too brief. Due to circumstances, they had been virtually forced to go their separate ways as soon as the storm had abated. The Director had summoned Jacob to his office the moment they arrived at the Hoover Building that Monday morning. Congress still had not recessed for the year, and the Director made it clear that he was depending on his Special Science Advisor for assistance in lobbying for the proposed funding for all of the FBI's scientific programs.

Since Jacob was spending all of his time with the Director, she had been relegated to doing paperwork in the lab with Felix. When, at the end of the first day she had reported to the Director's office, to escort Dr. Hood home, she found the office empty save for the Director's PA who was packing up. The woman slapped her forehead when she saw Rachel.

"Oh my god," she wailed. "I totally forgot to call you. Dr. Hood and the Director are having dinner with Senator Webb. I was supposed to let you know that you weren't needed tonight."

This had set the pattern for the week. The Director would pick Jacob up in the morning for a breakfast meeting and deliver him home again after some lobbying event. During the day they would see each other only in passing and always with others around. Felix reveled in their unexpected down time. He used the opportunity to sneak out to finish his Christmas shopping.

She found the experience incredibly frustrating. Rachel had been horrified with herself when she realized she had been scanning the news looking for a public health crisis or maybe even a small disaster for them to investigate.

Then, just as Congress headed out of town on Christmas Eve, so did she. Rachel smiled ruefully as she recalled how she had been looking forward to her vacation. She had arranged months ago for the week between Christmas and New Years off. She and her three college roommates had decided to forgo strained holidays with their respective families and spend the week in the Caribbean. She was getting on a plane for Aruba when Jacob finally finished with the Director. She hadn't even been able to say goodbye to him.

_Damn, we really should have talked about this when we had the chance._ Rachel shook her head. During their weekend, she and Jacob had talked, a lot. But they had talked about themselves, sharing their thoughts, their dreams, their hopes. They had both been reluctant to talk about how they would handle their relationship. The snowstorm had cut them off, stranded them in a world in which they were the only inhabitants. They didn't want the real world intruding on their idyll. They had tacitly assumed that they would work things out as they went along. That they would have the time, and the privacy, to discuss issues as they arose.

It was during her vacation that Rachel realized that keeping their relationship from the ears of the Bureau might not be as easy as they thought. She had been relaxing on the beach with her friends when her cell buzzed, signaling an incoming text message.

Her friend Maria had made a moue of distaste. "I _thought_ we had agreed that this was going to be a real vacation, no calls, no checking emails, no internet access." She reached over and snatched the phone from Rachel's hand. "I knew it! It's from that Dr. Hood of yours. Christ, you keep telling us he's a genius, can't he figure out what a vacation is?"

Rachel tried to grab her cell back; but Maria had already pushed the view message button. Luckily, Jacob had only texted '_call me_.'

"Call me, my ass." Maria snorted. She had quickly texted back _'on vacation._' Rachel had protested, which caused her friends to raise their eyebrows. They wondered why he would be calling her. She had to endure their questions about Jacob for the rest of the day.

Later that night she had called him. They agreed that Rachel would initiate all contact, texting first to let him know when it would be safe to call. And that had been the pattern of their communications for the rest of the week. Brief phone calls and text messages at odd hours when they could count on not being disturbed.

Weather had delayed her flight home by a day. She had arrived in DC in mid-afternoon, dumped her things at her apartment and rushed to the Hoover Building. She had no sooner joined Felix and Jacob in the lab, when they received a call from the Director. They were urgently needed on a case in Sacramento. The call had come from a former student of Hood's via the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Livestock Behavioral Research Unit.

The woman was now a professor of Molecular Biology at the California State University at Sacramento. She had been working on producing a genetically altered alfalfa. But the cows fed the alfalfa had died and it looked as if her alfalfa was to blame. She wasn't so sure and the USDA was willing to humor her. They agreed to her request to have Dr. Hood take a look at things.

So she, Felix and Jacob had scrambled to board the next flight to California. She and Jacob didn't even have a chance to talk during the flight. Due to the post-holiday crush, the three shared a row. Rachel was squashed into the middle seat between Felix and Jacob. By the time they reached their hotel it was late and Rachel had been in transit for almost 36 hours. She was exhausted, grubby, and more than a little upset by her inability to talk privately with Jacob.

Felix had settled into the room across the hall. Rachel quickly cleared Jacob's room and unlocked the connecting door. She then grabbed her suitcase and went to her own room. Dropping her things on her bed, she opened the connecting door. Jacob was waiting on the other side and he had immediately swept her into a kiss.

For a moment they stood, pressed together. Then Jacob broke off the kiss to bury his face in her neck. "I've missed you so much," he murmured. He began kissing and nipping her neck, his hands roaming over her body. "You feel so good. I've dreamed about fucking you, being inside you again." His hands quickly slid down to her ass, pressing her up against him. "I need to feel you under me, around me." Just as he began walking her backward into her room, Rachel had pushed against his chest.

"Wait, no, we can't do this." Breaking away from his embrace, she had pushed him gently away from her. "We can't be together like this. It isn't a good idea Hood. We…."

"Rachel, why? My god, I've missed you, wanted you so much…" Jacob had reached for her and then froze; a look of pained realization crossed his face as her words registered. "Fine, but I wish, _Agent Young_, you had informed me about your change of heart a little earlier. I could have easily arranged for your transfer while you were on vacation. It would have been…less… painful that way."

Jacob had then turned quickly and vanished through the connecting door to his own room closing it behind him.

Rachel reluctantly opened her eyes. She was so damned tired, but she had to deal with this issue with Jacob right away. They needed to talk. It was long overdue and it really couldn't wait until morning. She rose from the bed and went to the connecting door.

"Hood, we need to talk," Rachel called out as she pushed on the door. To her surprise, it was locked on his side. Rachel's mouth dropped open. _'Damn him! He's thinks he can lock me out?'_ Rachel rapped on the door sharply. "Open the door, we need to talk." She was meant with a resounding silence. _'Ok, be like that.'_

Grabbing the keycard from her desk, Rachel marched down the hall to Hood's door. She quickly slid the keycard through the lock and was relieved, and slightly pissed, when the lock glowed green. Relieved she could get into the room. Pissed that Hood had forgotten, once again, to secure the door after she left.

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Jacob sat on the bed, leaning against the headboard, his legs drawn up, his hands loosely resting on his knees. He took a sip of the cheap scotch from the minibar and grimaced. It wasn't the best, but it would get the job done. He took pleasure in the fact that in addition to providing him with some much needed anesthesia, it would piss off Rachel, no he corrected himself, it would piss off Agent Young, that he had once again raided the minibar.

He bleakly stared at the amber liquid in his glass, ignoring Rach, Agent Young's knocks on the connecting door. He wondered how he could have been so stupid. To believe that she could really love him, care for him. To believe all the things she had told him. He shrugged, maybe she did mean them then, maybe it was when she was away from him that the reality of what they were doing hit her. How being with him meant that she would eventually have to give up her career. A career that obviously meant more to her than he did.

Jacob closed his eyes wearily. He would have to come up with a plausible reason to get rid of her. They had been together so long; Frank would be suspicious if he demanded a new handler out of the blue. '_Maybe I should tell him the truth – Hey Frank, I finally fucked my handler, like they all thought I did months ago. It didn't work out, so can I get rid of her?'_ Even as he thought it, Jacob knew he couldn't do that to her. It would destroy her and even hurting as badly as he was, he didn't want that. She would have to request a transfer. That would probably be best.

The worst part would be telling Alex. Alex had overhead him on the phone with her. She had questioned him about his feelings for Rachel. He had admitted that, yes, the relationship had changed. He had stupidly told Alex that they were in love. She had been happy for him, for them. Now he had to let her know that, once again, his heart was broken.

He didn't bother to open his eyes when he heard her at the door. He figured that she wouldn't let a little thing like a locked door keep her out. But it didn't mean he had to pay attention to her. And it certainly didn't mean he had to listen to her tell him what a mistake she had made by sleeping with him.

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Closing the door behind her, Rachel automatically flipped the deadbolt. She moved over toward the bed and stood, arms crossed and surveyed Hood. He was sitting on the bed, eyes closed and his head thrown back against the headboard. His hands were resting on his drawn up knees and they loosely held a glass half filled with what she assumed was scotch.

"Well," she began, "I don't know what pisses me off more."

"Get out." Jacob's eyes remained closed. "Get the hell out of my room. I don't think it's a _good idea_ for you to be in here Agent Young."

"We need to talk, and I'm not leaving until that happens."

"Fine, then I'm leaving." Jacob slammed his glass on the nightstand and stood to push past her.

Rachel let him get a half step beyond her. She reached out and snagged the back of his belt. She swung Hood slightly to one side and kicked his legs out from underneath him. Using his momentum as he sprawled backward onto the bed, she went down with him. One of her knees was on the bed, the other firmly planted on his stomach, her weight pinning him down. Her left hand was beside his head, her right hand around his throat. To keep him from moving, from trying to buck her off, his head was forced back.

Jacob looked up at her, his eyes wide with shock. "Rachel?"

"So, we need to talk, 'kay?"

Jacob swallowed nervously and nodded. Rachel shifted to one side and he sat up, once again leaning against the headboard. He rubbed his throat. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Mostly about how pissed off I am with you."

"You're pissed off?" Jacob was outraged. "You calmly tell me that you think our being together is a bad idea and _you're _pissed off?"

Rachel sat crossed-legged on the bed facing him. "Yes, I'm pissed." She held up a hand to stop his interruption. "I'm pissed that you tried to lock me out. I'm pissed that you forgot _again_ to secure your door. I'm doubly pissed that you not only got into the minibar but that you're _drinking_ on the job."

She reached out and took his hands in hers. "But I am mostly pissed that you jumped to conclusions about my feeling for you. That you didn't let me explain."

Jacob tried to pull his hands away, but Rachel tightened her grip. "You said we were a bad idea. I think that's pretty self-explanatory."

"No, I didn't."

"Damn it; don't tell me I'm imagining things Rachel. I know what I heard."

"I _said_ that we can't be together…"

"And that we were a bad idea. Trust me; I remember your words all too clearly." Jacob stared down at their clasped hands.

Rachel tipped Jacob's face up. "You're jumping to conclusions again. I did not say that _we_ were a bad idea. Do you happen to recall what you were doing when I said that we couldn't be together?"

"I was kissing you."

Rachel sniffed. "You were doing a hell of a lot more than that Dr. Hood." Her lips quirked in a half smile. "You were doing your damnedest to get me into bed."

"And you said that we couldn't, that it would be a bad idea. And you called me Hood." Jacob looked at Rachel sadly. "You stopped calling me Hood when you told me you loved me. What other conclusion could I, should I draw from what you said?"

Rachel melted at the look on his face. "Oh, Jacob, baby, it's nothing like that." She leaned forward and took his face in her hands and kissed him hard. She broke off the kiss to lean her forehead against his, caressing his cheeks with her thumbs. "No, baby, it's nothing like that."

Jacob sighed with relief. "Then what did you mean?" He attempted to pull Rachel into his lap.

Rachel resisted. "This is what we can't do Jacob."

"What?"

"We can't be together, can't sleep together when we're in the field."

"Why not?" Jacob frowned. "I thought that was why we agreed to keep our relationship from the Bureau, so that we _could_ be together."

Rachel looked at him unhappily. "I think we were a little naïve. I know we agreed that we would keep our relationship from the Bureau, but we didn't talk about how we were going to, well, handle, explain, things. It didn't occur to me, until I went on vacation, how hard it would be. That it's not just the Bureau we have to worry about. It's other people as well."

"How could our relationship come up when you were on vacation? I wasn't there!"

"Yes, you were." Rachel leaned over and touched Jacob lightly on the head. "You were with me here." She moved her hand to his chest. "And here. I thought about you constantly, missed you, wished you were with me."

"And that was a problem?"

"Well, I wasn't behaving the way my friends expected. They wanted to know why."

Jacob's brow creased. "What are you talking about?" His eyes narrowed. "Exactly what kind of vacation _did _you have planned? I thought you said you were going on a 'girl's beach week'?"

"I did. A girl's beach week at a single's resort in Aruba. My friends couldn't understand my, uh…" A smile tugged at Rachel's lips. "…commitment to celibacy. I mean, I couldn't exactly tell them why I suddenly had no interest in any available man."

"What did you tell them?"

"Mostly the truth. I never told them how serious it was when I got shot last spring. That I almost died. How badly my leg was injured; how tough the rehab was. I told them I was tired and just wanted to chill."

Rachel shrugged. "It didn't hurt when they saw how some guys around the pool reacted to my scar. They could understand that I wouldn't want to deal with that."

Jacob frowned. "I suppose you're right, we do need to talk about how we deal with people. But what does that have to do with us not sleeping together when we're in the field? With you calling me Hood?"

He reached out and gently ran a finger down her face. "To be honest, that hurt as much as you saying we were a bad idea."

"It's all part of dealing with people. I've always called you Hood. If I started calling you Jacob, Felix, other people might wonder why."

"Yes, I can see where you'd call me that in public. But we're alone. Surely those rules don't apply now. Why can't we just forget about the Bureau and Felix and all the rest of it until morning?" He reached for her again. "I want you so damned bad it hurts Rachel."

Rachel batted his hands away. "Do you think I like this any more than you do? I missed you too. It felt good to be in your arms, to be kissing you again. Don't you think that I'd like to make love to you all night long? But we can't."

"Why not? We both want this and we're finally alone."

Rachel sighed and reached out to touch Jacob's face. "It wouldn't be practical. Too many things could go wrong." She shook her head stubbornly. "No, I have to think of you as Hood when we're working. I have to keep treating you as I've always done. I have to keep Hood my assignment separate from Jacob my lover. Otherwise, I might slip. Besides, we're never really alone when we're working, in the field. That's why we can't sleep together."

"I hate to be the one to point this out, but we're alone right now." Jacob smiled and reached out to pull Rachel into his arms. "We have been for some time."

"We're not _really_ alone." Rachel argued. "We could be interrupted at any time. You know that. Felix could come to the door, the local LEO's or the local field office could decide they needed to check in, we could be called out to a crime scene."

Jacob began to protest, but as if on cue, there was a knock at the door.

"Doc? Agent Young? I was wondering if you two wanted to get something to eat," called out Felix.

Rachel began to laugh at the look on Jacob's face.

"Did you plan this?" He whispered.

Shaking her head Rachel went to open the door to Felix. He sauntered into the room with several sheets of paper in hand.

"Hey, Doc, ma'am," he greeted them. "I know it's late, but I gotta say, I'm starved. You two interested in some dinner?"

Rachel scrunched up her nose. "I _am_ hungry," she admitted. "But I'm so damned tired I don't want to go out. Would you mind bringing us something back?"

"No need to go anywhere," Felix assured her. "This place doesn't run to room service, but I checked with the kid at the desk. He gave me menus from a coupla of places close by that deliver." He held up one menu, "says that this place has the best pizza in the area."

"Good job, Felix." Rachel looked at Jacob inquiringly. He shrugged negligently.

"Yeah, sounds ok to me."

"Why don't you order us a couple of pizzas while I take a shower," Rachel told him. "I don't care what you order, anything is fine with me."

"Sure thing, ma'am." Felix winked at her. "How about I get one with anchovies?" They both laughed at Jacob's expression of distaste. "Or maybe not."

Rachel made her way into her own room. "Don't forget to order some sodas with the pizza, we don't need any raids on the minibar." she called out over her shoulder.

Felix, already on the phone, scrunched up his face and shook his head. As if he would forget to do that. Agent Young had made the minibar rule more than clear when he joined the team. The order placed, Felix flipped his phone closed and proceeded to make himself comfortable.

"So Doc, what's the deal…." Felix broke off with a frown. He glanced at Jacob disapprovingly. "Is that whiskey in that glass? Have you been into the minibar? _And_ drinking? Geez, are you _trying_ to make Agent Young go nuclear on your ass or what?"

Jacob looked at Felix impatiently. "Technically, it's scotch. For which I will happily reimburse the Bureau. It was a long and tiring trip. If I want to have a drink…"

Felix held up his hands. "Just trying to give a friendly warning Doc. You might want to get rid of the evidence before she notices."

Jacob's lips twitched. "She already noticed and reamed me out. But I have to admit, her heart didn't seem to be in it. I guess she really is tired."

Felix's eyebrows rose. "Yeah, she did say she was tired. That's kind of strange. I mean, why would Agent Young be…"

"Why would I be what?" Rachel asked. She was dressed in flannel pants and a t-shirt; her damp hair hung around her shoulders. She was in the process of tucking her weapon into the waistband at the small of her back.

"So tired. I mean, you're coming back from a week off. That must have been a hell of a vacation," Felix teased.

"The vacation was fine." Rachel said. "It was getting back from Aruba that was hell. Everything that could go wrong did. I should have been back in DC yesterday afternoon; instead, I only got back an hour or so before I met up with you two at the Hoover Building."

"Ohhh, Aruba," Felix smirked. "So you had a week of fun in the sun…." He broke off at a knock on the door. He and Rachel exchanged looks. "That can't be our pizzas already."

"Oh for heaven's sake." Jacob took a step toward the door. "You two are over-reacting."

Drawing her weapon, Rachel blocked Jacob's path. "Hood, floor," she spat out quietly. Jacob's protest died at the look on her face. Sighing, he obediently sank to the floor, the bed between him and the door.

She nodded toward Felix, indicating that he should approach the door. Felix nodded back in acknowledgement and drawing his weapon he quietly made his way across the room. Just as he put his hand on the knob, the knock sounded again. He crouched to look out the peephole in the door.

"Unknown woman, has her hand in her coat pocket, might be armed," he reported quietly.

Felix glanced back at Rachel. She was standing with her weapon level. She would have a clear shot at whoever was on the other side of that door. He gave her a questioning look and she nodded to indicate that she was ready. Felix threw open the door and pointed his weapon directly in the face of the person standing there.

"FBI!" he bellowed. "Show me your hands!"

The object of Felix's attention was a short young woman with wispy brown hair and a worried expression. At the sight, and sound, of Felix and his gun, she promptly fainted at his feet.

Felix looked down at the woman stunned. Carefully keeping his weapon trained upon her, he stooped to check her vitals. He looked up at Rachel. "Uh, ma'am? She's out cold." He hastily re-holstered his weapon.

Sliding her gun back into her waistband Rachel joined Felix at the door. Looking down at the woman she frowned. "Huh, wonder who she is?"

Peering over Rachel's shoulder, Jacob let out a sigh. "She's Dr. Gina Dawkins, she's the reason we're here."


	2. Chapter 2

Rachel and Felix gaped at Jacob. "You know her?" Felix asked.

"Yes." Jacob shook his head in annoyance. "You know, if you would let me answer my own door, things like this wouldn't happen." Rachel opened her mouth to protest, but Jacob cut her off. "Later, right now, could we please attend to Gina?"

Between the two of them, Felix and Jacob got the unconscious woman onto the bed. Jacob vanished into the bathroom and retuned shortly with a damp washcloth. Sitting on the bed, he began to gently bathe the unconscious woman's face.

"Ok, Hood, so exactly who is she? What did you mean when you said she was the reason we were in Sacramento?" Rachel asked.

"She's a former student of mine. She's at Cal State Sacramento now and working on something for the USDA. Something's gone wrong and she, well, the USDA asked Frank to send me, us out here to look into it."

"But what is 'it' exactly Doc?" Felix wanted to know. He leaned over Jacob's shoulder peering worriedly down at the woman on the bed.

Jacob shrugged. "I'm not sure. The USDA didn't tell me much before we left. Said that Gina would fill us in when we arrived." He looked up at his companions in annoyance. "Which is most likely what she was trying to do when you two terrorized her."

Felix's protests were cut short as the unconscious woman began to stir.

Her eyes opened slowly. They widened in shock at the sight of Felix looming over her. She gasped and struggled to rise.

"Shhh, you're fine Gina." Jacob tipped her face toward him. "You're safe." Jacob murmured as he pushed her hair behind her ears.

Relief floored her face. "Dr. Hood! I'm so glad you're here." Her face crumpled and she looked as if she was about to cry. "I'm in so much trouble."

"Now Gina," Jacob chided as he helped her sit up, his arm around her shoulder. "I've told you before, you're not my student anymore, you're a colleague. Call me Jacob."

Rachel snorted at the way the woman blushed and smiled at Ja… at Hood. She resisted the urge to smack him on the back of the head.

"How did you where to find us, know which room Hood is in?" Rachel asked sharply.

Gina's started gaze flew to Rachel's face. "Uh, the guy working the desk? He's one of my students. He told me which room."

"That is hardly important, is it?" snapped Jacob. "Gina's had a shock, I think…"

"It's ok Doctor, I mean, Jacob." Gina interrupted. "I'm fine, really." She gave Jacob a shy smile and leaned into him. "I just, I mean, I been under a lot of strain the last few days." She burrowed into Jacob a little more, "and I don't think I've even _seen_ a real gun before."

"Hey, I'm sorry about that," Felix cut in. "But you gotta understand…"

"What you need to understand is that an unexpected visitor may constitute a threat to Dr. Hood's safety," Rachel interrupted. "Now, if you feel up to it", she continued sarcastically, "maybe you can fill us in on what brings us to Sacramento."

Gina and Jacob both turned to stare at Rachel. Jacob was about to chide Rachel for her unsympathetic treatment of the girl, but the words died on his lips. He flushed slightly at the look of amusement on her face. Jacob abruptly dropped his arm from around Gina's shoulders and stood up.

He brushed past Rachel with a muttered "This is _not_ funny." He took a position on the far side of the room, leaning back against the window, hands buried in his pockets.

"Um, yes, I guess I should perform introductions. Gina, these are Special Agents Young and Lee," he nodded to the two agents. "They're my FBI colleagues."

"Hey, call me Felix," the big man stuck out a hand. "And I'm real sorry about before. But like Agent Young said, we weren't expecting anyone."

Gina was about to answer when another knock sounded at the door. She gaped as two guns once again appeared.

"Oh for pity's sake," snorted Jacob. "It probably _is_ our dinner this time. What, you're going to try to scare the crap out of the pizza delivery guy now?" He pushed off the window and took a step toward the door.

Rachel blocked him easily. "Damn it Hood," she growled. "Don't push me, floor." With a sigh, Jacob grabbed Gina's arm and pulled her down beside him on the floor. Rachel motioned to Felix, who made his way to the door, checking to see who was on the other side.

"Kid with pizza boxes."

At Rachel's nod, he holstered his weapon and slowly opened the door. Rachel moved to keep a clear line of fire. Gina looked at Jacob with wide eyes, he merely shook his head. "You get used to it."

The delivery was concluded without incident. Sitting around the small table, Gina slowly began recounting the situation that had brought them to Sacramento and threatened to derail her fledgling academic career.

"It's about a new strain of alfalfa I'm developing," she began.

"Alfalfa, that's like wheat, right?" Felix wanted to know.

"No." Gina chewed her pizza slowly. "It's more like a plant, a member of the legume family. It's not generally grown for human consumption. It's mostly used for cattle fodder."

"Yes, that's right," Jacob contributed. "Your dissertation was on possible genetic modifications of various food stuffs. Is this a continuation of that work?"

"In a way. Right after I started at Cal State, I was approached by Dairy Cares. They're an organization that works on environmental sustainability issues in the dairy industry. They were interested in finding a food source for cows that was more readily absorbed by their digestive systems. I was able to get funding for my work from the USDA."

Rachel's lips began to twitch. "You mean you got a government grant to develop a food that would make cows poop less?"

Felix snorted. "Talk about the government funding a load of crap!"

The two agents dissolved in laughter, while Jacob looked on disapprovingly. Gina looked irate.

"It's hardly a laughing matter." Jacob said coolly. "You may not be aware of it, but in a day one cow produces almost 120 pounds of manure. The pollution of rivers and streams in rural areas by the run-off of animal waste is a major environmental problem.

In addition to polluting the groundwater, in states like California this waste is making its way into the ocean, where it's causing problems for the fishing industry. Several species of fish are almost extinct."

Rachel and Felix tried to control their snickers. "So, what's the problem," Felix "Someone dose your alfalfa with a laxative?" He and Rachel broke down once again.

"It's not funny," snapped Gina. "Someone must have done something to my alfalfa, 'cause the cows that ate it died. And they said it's my fault." At this she burst into tears.

Jacob reached across the table for Gina's hand, but Rachel stopped him with a raised eyebrow. She laid a hand on the woman's shoulder. "I'm sorry; we shouldn't have mocked your work. Obviously we need you to explain to us exactly what happened. How you think we can help."

Gina shook off Rachel's hand. "I doubt that _you_ could help, have any idea of what could have happened."

Rachel bristled at her tone. "Ok, shall I take a guess? You think some has deliberately sabotaged your research; maybe someone working on a competing project? You think that person is orchestrating things to make your research look like a failure and maybe cooking the data to make his or her own research look better?"

"Uh, yeah, pretty much. How did you know?"

"Yes, we've uh, dealt with a few situations like this before." Jacob smothered a smile. "Now Gina, tell us exactly what happened. And who do you think may have sabotaged your work?"

"It started last week," Gina began. "I'm working with one of the local dairy farmers. I had gone out early in the week to check up on the cows being fed my alfalfa. The farmer had reported that a few of the cow's milk production was down. I didn't think it was anything. They seemed fine."

She looked at Jacob miserably. "But by the end of the week all of the test subjects were dead. And the farmer is blaming my alfalfa. He was furious." She took a deep breath. "He threatened to kill me."

"That's a pretty extreme reaction to a few dead cows," Felix frowned.

"It's more than a few," Gina replied softly. "He lost half his herd, 100 head."

Jacob blinked. "My god, with the price of milk…" He did some quick calculations in his head. "He must have lost nearly a quarter of a million dollars."

"More," nodded Gina. "His cows were high producers. This may wipe him out, no wonder he wanted to kill me."

"I can see where he was upset, but why did he think the alfalfa was the cause?" Jacob's forehead creased in confusion. "Surely they did a necropsy?"

"What's a necropsy?" Felix broke in.

"It's what they call an autopsy when the subject's an animal," Rachel put in absently. Gina's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Why do they call it a necropsy?" Felix persisted.

Rachel shot him an irritated glace. "They just do, ok." She looked at Gina, "so what were the results?"

"The cows died from an excess of troponin in the myocardial tissue. They were unable to maintain isometric tension."

Felix and Rachel looked blankly at Jacob.

"The cows died of heart disease. The myocardial, or heart tissue, couldn't maintain sufficient tension to keep beating." Jacob shrugged. "The heart is a muscle. Muscles work by expanding and contracting. A lack of isometric tension means the muscle got soft. It's the same principle as pulling on an elastic band. Eventually the band gets played out, it won't snap back into shape."

Rachel and Felix nodded in comprehension.

"But why blame you?" Rachel wanted to know. "How can they be sure it was the alfalfa that damaged the cows' hearts? Maybe the cows ate or drank something else that was contaminated?" She shrugged, "Or maybe someone doctored, poisoned the alfalfa before the cows ate it."

"Don't you think I suggested that?" Gina burst out angrily. "I'm not an idiot. The only feed the dead cows had was my alfalfa. And they all drank from the same water source. There were no contaminates in the water. Nothing else showed up in the necropsy. Nothing to explain the excess troponin. The hypothesis is that something in the alfalfa, some genetic mutation, caused the cows to produce excess troponin which damaged the their heart muscles.

But there can't be," Gina said. "I've been working on that strain for months and I've never had a problem before."

Jacob tilted his head, a look of surprise on his face. "I have to say I agree with Rachel. Why blame the alfalfa? They _can't_ have had enough time to do a thorough examination of the cow's tissue to determine exactly what caused the damage."

"They aren't doing any more tests. They said that the solution is obvious." Gina gave a ragged sob. "This means the end of my career. The government is pulling my funding, the farmer is threatening to sue Cal State, Cal State is threatening to fire me. Everything is going to hell. They all felt sorry for me, that's why they agreed to have you come out, Jacob. They want it to look like they're being fair."

Jacob and Rachel exchanged puzzled glances over Gina's head. It seemed odd that the USDA was rushing to judgment. It was even odder that no one was investigating Gina's claims of sabotage. It wouldn't be the first time competition for federal research dollars got nasty.

Rachel had thought it strange that they weren't given any contact information for local law enforcement or the local field office. Couldn't understand why the government wasn't even considering foul play.

Jacob was puzzled by the reaction of Cal State. It was his experience that one's academic colleagues always circled the wagons when accusations were brought by outsiders. Jacob narrowed his eyes as he regarded Gina.

"Gina," he began softly. "What aren't you telling me? Why is everyone so quick to blame your research?" He thought back to what she had said earlier. "What did you mean when you said you haven't had trouble with _that_ strain of the alfalfa?"

"This alfalfa is my second generation growth." Gina muttered. "The first generation, it, it had problems."

"What kind of problems?" Jacob was inflexible.

"Absorption problems. The test subjects I was feeding it to kept losing weight, became anemic. It turned out they couldn't absorb the nutrients from the alfalfa."

"So basically the animals were starving to death, eating the food you developed," Rachel said.

Gina shot her a furious look. "They weren't _starving_. None of them died or anything. Research doesn't work like that. Sometimes your first results aren't perfect. When you're performing genetic research, the path isn't always clear. I wouldn't expect _you_ to understand."

Rachel narrowed her eyes in dislike. Felix gaped at Gina in surprise. He couldn't believe that the woman was being so rude to Agent Young. Rachel opened her mouth to respond, but Jacob hurried into speech.

"Uh, yes, _we_ do understand. Even so, why blame this strain? You said that you thought someone did something to your alfalfa. That someone sabotaged your work. Why? Is there a competing project? Have you been having problems with another researcher?"

Gina began to push the half-eaten pizza around on her plate. "Um, there's not a competing project, exactly. And yeah, I've been having a, ah, problem with my department chair. He's the one who conducted the necropsy, said the alfalfa triggered the troponin."

"Your chair?" Jacob looked surprised. "Gina, you must be one of the most junior members of your department. Why would you be having problems with your chair?"

Gina flushed lightly. "He, uh, he wanted me to serve on some bullshit University committee. I told him I had better things to do with my time." Gina hurried on at the look on Jacob's face. "Well, _you_ didn't bother with that crap at Stanford. You always said it was a waste of time."

"Yes," he acknowledged. "I did. But I was a tenured professor who had developed some lucrative patents before I took that position. I can see that he would be annoyed with you. But he wouldn't retaliate this drastically. More likely he'd schedule all your classes at inconvenient times."

Gina's flush deepened. "Well, uh, it was during a faculty meeting. The committee was about work/life balance issues and I told him that not only was it a bullshit committee but that he was being sexist in suggesting that I be the one to serve."

"Obviously I failed you as an advisor Gina. I should have prepared you better for faculty politics. I'm not surprised he's out for your head."

Felix was baffled. "How come Doc? I mean yeah," he looked at Gina disapprovingly. "She was rude, but is that really a firing offense?" Rachel snorted in agreement.

"It's not just the rudeness," Jacob explained. "She challenged his authority, showed her contempt in a public forum. It's one thing for junior faculty to bitch and moan about the senior faculty to each other," he shook his head. "It's another matter to openly criticize them."

"So who else did you piss off?" Rachel smirked. "What's the other project? The one that _isn't_ really your competition?"

"It's another project dealing with genetic modifications."

Jacob was confused. "There are _two_ botanical geneticists working in your department? How did that happen? Your department can't be that large?"

"He's not working on plants. He's working on animal genetics." Gina scowled. "The chair acts as if his project is vital to the department, even though it's frankly _derivative._"

Felix and Rachel once again looked to Jacob for a translation.

"There are two different tacks research can take." Jacob explained. "You can refine on someone else's ideas, take them further than the original researcher. Your work derives from someone else. Or, you can develop something new. Generally, original research is the more prized route."

"So how come your chair prefers the other guy's work, if yours is original and his isn't?" Rachel asked. "Because he's a lot more _pleasant_ than you are?"

Gina shot Rachel a dirty look. "No, more like because he's a he. And he sucks up to Dr. Robinson, the chair. His name is Wyatt Payne. He was hired the same year as me."

"And?" Jacob inquired gently.

"And they all treat him like he's some kind of golden boy." Gina said bitterly. "This was the first time my work, my research was surpassing his. I wouldn't put it past either him or Robinson to try to damage my work, my reputation."

"So what was he working on?" Felix wanted to know.

"He was working on improving the cows. Making them better milkers." Gina shrugged. "Like I said, derivative. People have been working on that for years."

"Well, not..." Jacob began. He was cut off by a peremptory knock on the door. His eyes flew to Rachel. She met his surprised look with a small smile.

She and Felix immediately stood and drew their weapons. As Felix headed toward the door, Rachel looked down at Jacob. "Stay right where you are," she hissed.

As Felix approached the door, the knock sounded again. An impatient voice called out. "Damn it Gina, I know you're in there. Answer the damn door."

"Guy, medium height, blond hair, glasses. Hands visible," Felix breathed.

"That sounds like Wyatt." Gina snorted. "What the hell does he want?" She started to rise from her chair when Rachel put a hand on her shoulder and shoved her back into her seat.

"What part of stay where you are don't you understand?" she spat out. She carefully stepped between the table and the door, blocking Hood from view.

Rachel nodded to Felix. The big man carefully lowered his weapon to his side. He looked back to confirm that Rachel was in position and slowly opened the door. "May I help you?"

The man at the door gaped at the sight of the large, black man confronting him. "Uh, I must have the wrong room. I'm looking for a Dr. Jacob Hood."

"Yeah?" Felix cocked his head. "Then how come you were yelling for Gina to open the door?"

Rachel joined Felix at the door. The man opposite them blinked and held up his hands when he finally noticed their guns. "Uh, look, I don't want any trouble, I, uh, was…"

"Why didn't you point your gun in his face?" Gina asked waspishly. She was trying to peer over Rachel's should. "What are you doing here Wyatt?"

Rachel gritted her teeth. "I _thought_ I told you to stay put."

The younger man brightened. "So I am in the right place. May I come in?"

Rachel and Felix looked at each other and shrugged. They holstered their weapons and Felix pulled the man into the room.

"Don't tell me, the kid at the desk is one of your students too?" Rachel asked in exasperation.

"How did you know?" Wyatt asked in amazement. He smiled broadly and looked at Gina. "So that's how you found out what room Dr. Hood was in? You leaned on Jimmy too?"

"Remind me to have 'Jimmy's' ass fired." Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Oh, hey, don't do that!" Wyatt protested. "He really needs this job. He might have to drop out of school if he loses it." He turned to Jacob, holding out his hand. "Dr. Hood, I'm Wyatt Payne. I'm honored to meet you sir. Your body of work is impressive."

Jacob winced slightly at the 'sir' as he took the hand the younger man offered. 'Please, Wyatt, call me Jacob. While I don't know how much of an honor it is, I must say that our meeting is a little unexpected. Why _are_ you here tonight?"

"It's simple Dr. Hood." Wyatt cast an amused glance in Gina's direction. "I was hoping that if I didn't actually beat Gina here I'd at least get here in time to make sure you got a balanced picture of what's happening."

"Are you implying that I would have lied to Jacob?" Gina bristled.

"Not exactly," Wyatt replied coolly. "But I wouldn't put it past you to shade the facts to your advantage." He turned to Jacob with a grin. "Bet you she told you my research is derivative."

Rachel laughed. "That's one bet you'd win Dr. Payne."

Wyatt turned to her with a smile. "Oh please, call me Wyatt, …?"

"Agent Young," Rachel returned his smile. "This," she gestured to Felix, "is Agent Lee."

"Call me Felix, Wyatt." He grinned at the young man in turn. He could see where people would prefer this guy. '_Man, that student of the Doc's is something of a bitch_.'

"Well, now that the introductions are out of the way," Rachel said. "Why don't you give us your version of what's going on here?"

"I'd like to hear about your research first," Jacob cut in. He sat on the edge of his bed and looked at Wyatt expectantly.

Wyatt perched on the credenza opposite Jacob. Rachel smiled to herself as she noted that Gina not only sat next to Hood, but that she leaned into his shoulder. Felix caught her eye and raised an eyebrow, a slight smirk appearing on his face. Apparently she wasn't the only one amused by Gina's actions.

Wyatt looked thoughtful for a few minutes. Finally, he focused, not on Jacob, but on Rachel and Felix. "For you to understand my work, and Gina's, you need to understand dairy farms. Now what do you think of when you think of a dairy?"

Felix and Rachel exchanged glances and shrugged.

"I guess that place in Wisconsin," Felix offered. "We had a case that involved a dairy farm once."

"Great," Wyatt encouraged. "What struck you about the place?"

"Rolling hills, lots of grass, a couple of cows in the meadow." Felix replied

"Cow shit everywhere," Rachel frowned at the memory.

Wyatt laughed. "That's the image most people have of dairy farms. The reality of commercial dairy farms is a little different." He smiled at Rachel. "But you are right about the cow shit….?" He cocked his head inquiringly.

"Rachel."

"You're right about the cow shit Rachel. You see, what with the price of milk a commercial dairy has literally hundreds of cows. The dairy where Gina's been testing her alfalfa is a small one and they have, well, had 200 head. That one dairy is creating a ton of manure a day."

"Whew, that's a lot of shit." Felix whistled.

"Right, and there are two ways to deal with that problem." He pointed to Gina. "You could come up with a way to decrease the manure output. Or," he pointed to himself. "You could work on a way to decrease the number of cows."

"Why do you have to work on reducing the number of cows?" Felix objected. "Just have fewer cows."

"Fewer cows means less money, right?" Rachel asked slowly. "Is that why the farmers don't do it?"

Wyatt kissed the pad of his thumb and leaned over to press it against Rachel's forehead. "Gold star for Rachel! That's the problem in a nutshell. Fewer cows' means less milk, less milk means less profit. So there's no incentive for the famers to downsize their herds, even if it is the environmentally sound thing to do."

"Gina said something about you trying to make the cows better milkers." Rachel continued. "So basically, your project is trying to develop cows who give more milk?" She cocked her head. "Fewer cows, the same or more profit?"

Wyatt once again kissed his thumb and pressed it against Rachel's forehead. She grinned at him. "Another gold star for Rachel. That's exactly what I'm trying to do. Preserve profits and the environment in one fell swoop."

"Which is completely derivative." Gina exclaimed. "People have been working on the genetic markers for good milkers for years."

"Not exactly," Jacob corrected. "Most of the work done on milk production genetics has been in the area of identifying high producing calves."

Wyatt nodded in agreement. "That's right. My work is different. I'm not looking for the genetic markers, I'm trying to identify the underlying genome, identify exactly how the genes control milk production."

He gestured to Gina. "Like I said, there are two ways to go about this project. Gina's way is simple and expedient. Change the environment in which the cow exists. Mine is long-term, change the cow. Frankly, it will be years before we know if my research pans out."

"My research is _not_ simplistic!" Gina began.

"I didn't say simplistic," Wyatt retorted. "I said…"

"No, it's not simplistic," Jacob agreed. "It's simple, elegant, and has immediate applicability."

Gina dimpled. "Do you really think so, Jacob?

"Umhm," Jacob looked abstracted. "It's for that reason that it is highly unlikely that Wyatt here would sabotage your project."

"Thanks, Dr. Hood." Wyatt shot Gina an irritated look. "I've been trying to tell her that for months."

"Why isn't Wyatt her competition?" Rachel asked.

Jacob shrugged. "Gina's research is not only on a different subject, but on a different time line as well. Her success will be, well, measurable almost immediately. But Wyatt," Jacob shook his head. "It will be years before he knows if his research is successful. He'd be looking at totally different funding sources than Gina. There's no way they could be considered to be in direct competition."

Gina shook her head stubbornly. "Maybe he's doing it for spite. All I know is that _someone_ had to sabotage my alfalfa. It was fine up until two weeks ago."

"Maybe it took that long for the effects to manifest themselves." Wyatt said patiently. "Be sensible, no one is out to get you."

"That's easy for you to say," Gina exclaimed. "No one has threatened to kill you."

"What, you're talking about Rico?" Wyatt snorted. "He'd never hurt a fly. You know how emotional he gets."

"Yeah? Well you weren't the one he was swinging a pitchfork at." Gina retorted.

"Wait a second," cut in Rachel. "He had a weapon? I'm sorry Wyatt, but in my experience, people who threaten violence while armed usually carry out their threats." She turned to Gina. "What's his full name. I think we should check him out."

"Rico Cipriani." Gina replied. "He's the owner of Orchard Hill Dairy."

Wyatt rolled his eyes. "You're wasting your time. Trust me, the guy's harmless."

Gina opened her mouth to argue, but Wyatt cut her off. He had noticed Rachel trying to suppress a yawn. "Come on Gina. We've each had a turn to plead out cases to Dr. Hood." He smiled at Rachel. "My star pupil looks like she's dead on her feet. We'll catch up with them tomorrow." He dragged the still protesting Gina from the room.

Rachel sighed in relief as she closed the door behind them. Giving in to the yawns she had been suppressing earlier, she turned to Felix and Hood. "Thank god! I thought they'd never leave." Checking her watch she turned to Felix, "So, breakfast tomorrow?"

"Diner next door, opens at 6:00 a.m." He replied promptly.

"Right, breakfast at 8:00." Rachel considered the matter. "After breakfast Felix, Hood and I will check out the situation with the cows. I want you to get full information on Rico Cipriani and financials on him and the dairy."

"Right ma'am." Felix answered. "Want me to call my sources now?"

Rachel yawned again. "Nah, no need to start tonight. We could all use a good night's sleep. You can wait until tomorrow."

"I'll say goodnight then, Doc, ma'am."

Rachel saw him out of the room, flipping the deadbolt on the door. She turned to find Hood standing right behind her.

His arms went around her and he pinned her against the door. Rachel gasped at the feeling of his body pressed tightly against hers, his mouth on hers.

"Hood, no, we can't do this," she moaned as she broke off the kiss. "I told you, it's too dangerous."

"Be realistic Rachel," he murmured. "Felix is safely tucked up in bed. Neither the local cops nor the local field office knows or cares that we're here. No one else is going to bother us tonight."

"We can't take the risk, I mean…" Rachel was interrupted by a knock on the door. She and Jacob froze for an instant.

Jacob leaned his forehead on Rachel's and whispered, "I swear to god, I could almost believe you planned this."

Rachel giggled and twisted in Jacob's arms to peer out the peephole. "It's Wyatt."

"What the hell does he want now?"

Rachel pushed Jacob away from her. "I don't know, but I'm sure he'll tell us."

Jacob grumbled as he moved away from the door. Rachel took a few deep breaths before opening the door to Wyatt.

"Uh, hi, Rachel, Dr. Hood. I'm sorry to bother you again." The young man was obviously uncomfortable.

"Yes, well, what is it?" Jacob demanded.

Wyatt's eyes widened in surprise at the irritation in Jacob's voice. "Ah, yeah, I'm sorry, I know you both must be tired. But I wanted, needed to tell you something and I didn't want Gina to know I told you."

"No." Jacob held up his hand. "I didn't let her complain about your behavior and I'm not going to listen to you complain about her."

"I don't want to complain about her! It's nothing like that."

"Well what is it?" Jacob demanded impatiently.

"Uh, did Gina mention any problems with Dr. Robinson, our department chair?" Wyatt asked.

"A little," Rachel shrugged. "Something about her being rude to him in a faculty meeting?"

"It's more than that," Wyatt said grimly. "Robinson is a real pig. He made a pass at Gina, right after she started at Cal State." He colored slightly. "The way I heard it, he cornered her at the welcome reception. Had his hands all over her. Gina made it clear that she wasn't interested, but she didn't leave it at that. Sort of made a joke of it with some of the other juniors and a few of the female grad students."

Rachel's mouth dropped open. "She didn't report him? Or call the cops?"

Jacob and Wyatt exchanged a look. "No, she wouldn't report it," Jacob said. "She would consider that professional suicide." He shrugged at the outraged look Rachel gave him. "It happens."

"Robinson makes passes at new female faculty and grad students." Wyatt said. "From what I hear, he doesn't usually try to retaliate if they turn him down. But Gina was pissed, told people that she turned him down 'cause she wasn't that desperate."

Jacob winced. "She not only ridiculed him as a man, but then she challenges his authority in a faculty meeting. I'm surprised she still has a job."

"Robinson was already engineering her firing before this shit with the alfalfa," Wyatt replied. "Now, Gina will be lucky if she can finish out the semester."

"Why are you telling us this?" Rachel wanted to know.

"Look, I honestly don't think anyone sabotaged Gina's project." Wyatt looked at them both levelly. "But if someone did, then I think you should take a hard look at Robinson."

He turned to leave, but paused as he reached the door. "Look, don't tell Gina that I told you. I don't want to embarrass her; I think she was more shaken up by Robinson than she let on."

Rachel closed door behind Wyatt. She turned and smiled at the disgruntled look on Jacob's face. "I think we could both use a good night's sleep Dr. Hood."

"Right," Jacob growled. "As if I'm going to get any sleep tonight."

"Mmm, maybe you should try a shower," Rachel suggested. "A nice cold one." Laughing softly she disappeared into her own room.


	3. Chapter 3

It was 8:00 a.m. and the threesome was ready to start their day. Breakfast had been ordered and Rachel had begun to outline for Felix the division of labor. She and Hood were going to head out to the dairy. Although the dead cows had been removed, the alfalfa was still growing in the fields. Hood wanted to check out the scene of the crime so to speak.

After the dairy, they would head over to the local agricultural extension office; check in the representative from the USDA. Finally, they would make their way over to Cal State. Hood wanted to review the results of the necropsy and see the greenhouse where Gina had been working on her plants.

Felix had already developed a list of things he needed to find out about Rico Cipriani. He was surprised when Agent Young asked him to add two new names to his list, Simon Robinson and Wyatt Payne

"Robinson," Felix was puzzled. "Who's he again? I know that name is familiar."

"He's the chair of the Biological Sciences Department," Jacob put in. "He's the one Gina is having problems with."

Felix shook his head. "So? Why's he a person of interest? I mean, hell yeah, she was rude, but that hardly makes him a suspect in all this."

Rachel and Jacob exchanged a glance. "Um, it's a little more than that," Jacob said. "Wyatt told us last night that Dr. Robinson had, uh, made, um, advances toward Gina."

Felix cocked his head at Rachel and raised his eyebrow.

Rachel rolled her eyes. Honestly, how Hood could be so embarrassed by any mention of sex when he… She abruptly shut down that line of thought as she felt herself beginning to blush. _This_ was exactly why she needed to keep their professional lives separate from their personal ones.

"Robinson made a pass at Gina. To get back at him, she made fun of him to some of the other people in the department. It seems that he's been out to get her fired every since. Wyatt thinks it anyone sabotaged the alfalfa, it would be him."

"He made a pass at her? You mean a 'have sex with me or your job is on the line' kind of pass at her." Felix was outraged.

Jacob shrugged. "According to Wyatt, he has a reputation for, um, approaching new female faculty or grad students. But that he normally doesn't retaliate when turned down."

"He does this all the time? And no one's reported him?" Felix's jaw dropped.

"Apparently, from what Hood and Wyatt said, this kind of thing isn't that uncommon." Rachel glared at Hood and Felix also turned an accusing stare on him.

"Hey, don't look at me. _I_ never did anything like that." He looked at them indignantly. "_And_ I never condoned any behavior like that when I was at Stanford. But unfortunately it does happen, and the victims rarely complain. They don't want to get a reputation as a trouble-maker."

"A trouble-maker," Felix sputtered. "You mean if Gina had complained, they would have blamed her? Damn, now you're making me feel sorry for her. No wonder she's so touchy, having to put up with crap like that."

"Yeah," Rachel agreed. "So see what you can find out about the guy. Any questionable activities in his past."

"Got it," Felix scribbled in his notebook. "Want financials on him?"

Rachel thought carefully. "If he's behind this, it's because it's personal. He has a grudge against Gina. But, yeah, it doesn't hurt to be through."

Felix ducked his head and looked at Rachel. "Now, you're sure you want a run-down on Wyatt? He seemed like a pretty nice guy."

"Yeah, I'm sure he's fine," she shot Hood a glare as he snorted. "But we don't know a hell of a lot about this case, about the set-up here. I don't think we should leave any stone unturned." Rachel paused thoughtfully. "Ya know, it might not be a bad idea to get some background on Gina too."

"Really," she insisted over Hood's sputtered indignation. "It wouldn't be the first time someone took a hit to their career for money. Maybe someone paid her to screw up her work."

Felix smirked as he wrote Gina's name in his notebook. _'Wonder if it was the Doc's idea to put Wyatt's name on the list. He didn't seem to like those "gold stars" Wyatt gave Agent Young last night.'_ He shot Agent Young a sly look. _'Wonder if putting Gina's name out there is retaliation? Or if it has to do with the way she was flirting with the Doc?'_

Felix was sure that the Doc and Agent Young had a purely professional relationship. But sometimes… sometimes he wondered. He mentally shrugged, not any of his business anyway. As long as they kept solving cases the way they did, that's all that mattered.

The food arrived and their conversation focused again on the logistics for the day. Even though there was no indication that a crime had been comitted, Rachel thought it would be good politics for Felix to pay a courtesy visit to the local police department as well as calling the local FBI field office. In addition to keeping in the good graces of the locals, he might pick up some useful gossip about the situation at the dairy.

They weren't quite sure when they would rendezvous to share information. As Hood pointed out, his investigations weren't going to be as linear as Felix's. A lot would depend on the cooperation of the people they wanted to question. Hood also thought that he might want to re-run some of the tests that were performed on the alfalfa and the cows. While he had no reason to doubt the work already done, it never hurt to be double check everything.

"Eww," Rachel wrinkled her nose. "You don't mean you want to cut up a dead cow, do you?'

Before Jacob could reply, they were interrupted. Wyatt had come into the diner, Gina trailing along behind him.

"Don't worry Rachel," Wyatt crowded into the booth next to her. "You won't have to go through that." He casually reached over and gently pulled on her ponytail. "And I must say, I'm glad to see my star pupil looking so good this morning." He grinned, "You looked dead on your feet last night."

Jacob narrowed his eyes in dislike. "Why not? Why can't I examine another cow if I deem it necessary?"

"'Cause they've already destroyed them. Burned 'em all." Wyatt replied promptly.

The two agents and the scientist looked at Wyatt in amazement.

Gina had slid into the booth next to Felix, who courteously made room for her. "They had too. Normally, Mr. Cipriani would have sent them to a rendering plant, but in this case…" She shrugged her shoulders.

Rachel and Felix's head's automatically swiveled toward Hood. But Wyatt answered. "Since the cows died from eating the genetically modified alfalfa, the USDA stepped in. They said they couldn't take the chance of whatever killed the cows being transmitted to humans."

"How could that happen?" Felix wanted to know. "It's not like they were being sent to a slaughter house to be made into t-bones."

"It's simple Felix," Jacob said. "Cows are used for much more than as a source of meat. Literally hundreds of products are produced with the by-product of animal slaughter, from medicines, to cosmetics, to everyday foodstuffs." He pointed to the dishes in front of them. "Even sugar and creamer."

Felix slightly pushed his coffee away. "Say what?"

"Umhm, bone meal is used as a whitening agent in refined sugar and powdered creamers."

"Geez, Doc, now you tell us." Felix complained. "No wonder you always take your coffee plain."

Jacob smiled faintly, but his smile quickly changed to a frown as he processed this new information. "I was hoping to have some different samples to test. Like I said, I have no reason to believe that the first tests weren't conclusive, but still."

"Even so Hood," Rachel objected. "The cows have been dead for what, over a week. Decomposition would have made them useless by now."

"Not necessarily," Gina spoke up. "_You _may not be aware of it, but cows don't decompose as quickly as humans."

Rachel bristled at the rude tone. She opened her mouth to respond, but Wyatt cut her off.

"So what?" he was dismissive. "The cows are gone."

"Not all of them."

Jacob looked at Gina intently. "What do you mean?"

Gina flushed, uncomfortable at suddenly being the center of attention. "Mr. Cipriani, he, he buried one of the cows, Bella. It, she, was the prize of the herd, his best milker. He said he wanted her treated with respect."

"Christ, Gina," Wyatt swore. "Don't you realize, didn't Rico realize, that cow is a health hazard. What if it contaminates the water supply at the dairy? He could have put his whole herd at risk."

"We'll deal with that problem later." Jacob said decisively. "Right now this is good news." He looked at Rachel. "Do you think we can get a court order to dig up the cow if the farmer doesn't cooperate?"

"Unless they're repealed the Patriot Act when I wasn't looking, sure." Rachel smirked.

"Good." Jacob looked at his companions. "If you're finished, I suggest we get moving. We have a lot to accomplish today." He looked at Wyatt pointedly. "So, if you'll excuse us?"

Wyatt threw Gina an imploring look. Things weren't going as smoothly as he had hoped. For some reason, Dr. Hood seemed to have taken a dislike to him.

Gina looked at Jacob earnestly. "It's like this Jacob. We thought," she motioned to Wyatt, "that we should go with you today. Introduce you to people, sort of smooth your way?"

"Please Dr. Hood?" Wyatt leaned around Rachel, casually dropping an arm around her shoulders. "I'd love the chance to work with you, in any capacity. Gina and I could be useful. She knows the layout of the dairy almost as well as old Rico, and me, well, I know Rico. He likes, trusts me, I might be able to convince him to let you dig up Bella."

Jacob bit on his bottom lip and starred at Wyatt for a moment. He hated to admit it, but his dislike of the younger man stemmed from his attitude toward, his obvious admiration of, Rachel. He sighed inwardly. As usual, Rachel had been absolutely right. They needed to keep their relationship strictly professional when they were in the field.

It wasn't the first time, and it wouldn't be the last, that some man with whom they were assigned to work found her attractive; flirted with her. It would be irrational on his part to let their infatuation prevent him from accepting help from a capable source. _'After all, it's not like I'm jealous of the little twerp.'_

"Fine," Jacob said abruptly. "Let's go."

They got out of the booth and headed for the door of the diner. Felix and Jacob rolled their eyes and exchanged a look at the way Rachel let Wyatt assist her from the booth, hold the door for her. They knew that if either of them had tried anything like that, they'd receive a tongue lashing. They were both beginning to suspect that Rachel's smiles were designed more to annoy Gina than to encourage Wyatt.

Rachel had been pissed by Gina's rudeness toward her. She had also quickly picked up on Gina's annoyance at any attention Wyatt or Hood paid her. She neither knew nor cared about the reasons behind the annoyance, but she was prepared to use it.

The group paused in the parking lot. "Ok Felix, I'll let you know when we change locations. Call me if you find anything significant. We'll plan to meet up later today." Rachel issued orders briskly.

"You got it ma'am." With a wave, Felix ducked into his car and pulled away.

Rachel had smiled faintly when Gina timidly suggested that Jacob drive to the dairy with her. Wyatt had enthusiastically supported that course of action, saying that Rachel could join him in his pickup. Ignoring Gina totally, she turned to Wyatt and shook her head. "Regulations," she murmured as she escorted Hood to their waiting SUV.

Jacob frowned at her. "You should be nicer to Gina."

"She needs to learn some manners." Rachel retorted. She glanced at Hood sideways. "She could take some lessons from Wyatt."

Rachel grinned to herself at Hood's grunt. They spent the rest of the short ride to the dairy in silence.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Rachel looked around approvingly as they pulled up at Orchard Hill Dairy. "Nice, very nice."

The barn they had parked in front of was made of weathered red boards. The roof was gray slate and in good repair. Fences criss-crossed the meadows and they could see the cows out grazing.

Rachel and Hood exited the SUV and she sniffed the air experimentally. "It doesn't even smell too bad."

Gina rolled her eyes at Rachel's comment, but before she could say anything, Wyatt hurried into speech.

"Rico prides himself on running a model farm. His manure pits are state-of-the-art, along with everything else. It might look like an old fashioned operation, but everything here is first rate." Wyatt's eyes clouded over. "That's why it's such a damn shame that he might lose everything."

"It's not.." Gina began angrily, but she broke off, flushing, at the appearance of a young man at the barn door. He appeared to be in his mid-twenties and he was wearing jeans, a t-shirt and an unpleasant expression.

"Hey, bitch," the man called out. "What the hell are you doing here? My Pops told you to get off his land and to stay off. So you and your friends get back in your cars and get the fuck outta here." He advanced toward them in a threatening manner.

Gina swallowed audibly and tried to hide behind Jacob. Rachel took a step forward blocking Hood. Brushing back her jacket to expose her badge, she pulled her out her ID. "FBI," she announced. "I'm Special Agent Rachel Young," she jerked her head back toward Hood, "this is Dr. Jacob Hood. We're here to look around. We'd like to ask Mr. Rico Cipriani a few questions."

"Fuck off, bitch," the man sneered. "This is private property, so unless you got a warrant, you ain't looking at anything."

Rachel's mouth tightened in anger. Before she could react, an older man, dressed in jeans and a worn denim jacket came out of the barn.

"Freddie," the old man called out sharply. "You watch your language. Get back in the barn and help Vincent with the hay."

Freddie stomped back into the barn with a glare at the group clustered around the SUV. The older man shook his head in disgust. He turned to Rachel.

"I have to apologize for my grandson. He seems to think I need protecting."

"Mr. Cipriani? I'm Dr. Jacob Hood, I'm the Special Science Advisor for the FBI. I've been asked by the government to look into what happened to your cows." Jacob approached the man with his hand extended. He nodded to Rachel, "this is my colleague, Agent Young. I believe you know Drs. Dawkins and Payne?"

"Of course," Rico shook Jacob's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you Dr. Hood, Agent Young. But I don't know what you can do, find out." He shook his head sadly. "My poor cows, it was a tragedy, but it was no one's fault." He looked over at Gina.

"Dr. Dawkins, Gina, cara, I owe you an apology. I should never have lost my temper with you, threatened you. I'm ashamed of myself."

Rachel narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean what happened was no one's fault? I thought you claimed Dr. Dawkins' alfalfa killed your cows?"

Rico held up his hands. "She didn't do it on purpose. It's not as if she deliberately tried to harm them. Sometimes," he shrugged. "Sometimes things go wrong. Experiments don't work out. Dr. Robinson explained it to me."

Jacob lightly laid a hand on Gina's shoulder preventing her outburst at Rico's words. He smiled at the man. "Yes, that may be. But I've known Gina for awhile and I'd hate to see her career damaged unless we were absolutely sure what happened here."

"Fair enough," said Rico. "What would you like to see?" He seemed doubtful. "The cows are gone, we had to have them incinerated. I don't know if there's anything here to help you."

"I'm assuming that you kept the cows being fed the alfalfa housed separately from the rest of the herd?" Jacob asked.

"Oh yeah," Rico bobbed his head in acknowledgment. "That way we wouldn't mix up the feed, made it easier on the barn workers."

"Wyatt here tells us that your manure pits are state of the art." Jacob tilted his head inquisitively. "Have you emptied them yet?"

Wyatt burst out laughing. "Good idea, Dr. Hood. How about it Rico, any of the cow's shit still here?"

Rico chuckled. "Sure, if you think that will help you. Anything else?"

"I'd like to see the fields the cows grazed, Gina told me some of her alfalfa was planted there. I'd like to take samples of the alfalfa, the grass, the water, and the manure." Jacob paused thoughtfully. "I'd also like a general tour of your operation if you don't mind."

"I always like showing people around," Rico replied genially. "Why don't we start in the barn here?"

"There is one other thing." Jacob hesitated. "I understand that not all of the cows were incinerated, that you buried one. Would it be possible for me to get tissue samples from it?"

"No," Rico stiffened. "No, I won't disrespect Bella like that. She was the prize of my herd. Not only the best milker, but her calves were good milkers too. Let her rest in peace." He stalked off toward the barn. "If you want a tour come on," he threw over his shoulder.

Rachel and Hood looked at each other and shrugged. They would tackle the old man later, see if they could convince him to cooperate. If not, then a court order would be needed. With Gina and Wyatt tagging along, they followed Rico into the barn.

"Freddie, Vincent, I told you to get that hay down from the loft," Rico barked at two young men loitering near the door.

The two scrambled up the ladder as Rico frowned at them. "My grandson Freddie and my grand-nephew Vincent. They're good boys, but I gotta ride 'em." He snorted. "They're like all kids nowadays, not used to hard work."

Rico began the tour of the barn, shooting irritated looks upward as bits of hay floated down on them like snow. They all ignored the drifts as best they could; Jacob casually brushed straw from his hair as he questioned Rico about the routines followed on the farm. Rachel had trouble suppressing her giggles.

Finally Rico had enough. "God damn it," he yelled. "Quit screwing around and get that hay down here."

"Sure thing Pops." Freddie called out.

"Jacob, look out!" Gina yelped, from across the barn.

Rachel instinctively looked up and was horrified to see a bale of hay teetering over the edge of the loft, directly above her and Hood. She automatically began to reach forward to push him out of danger. Before she could move, she felt a pair of arms circle her waist and Wyatt pulled her back against his chest.

"Whoa, you ok Rachel?"

Rachel stared in horror at Hood, sprawled face down on the barn floor. Cursing fluently she wrenched herself out of Wyatt's grip. She quickly stooped to check on his condition; she confirmed that he was conscious and stirring.

"You people should look were you're standing."

Rachel looked up in a fury to see Freddie grinning at them. He was climbing down from the loft and was half way to the floor. With a growl, Rachel surged to her feet and stormed across the barn toward him. Grabbing his arm, she yanked him off the ladder and slammed him face first into a stall partition. Twisting his arm around his back, she pulled out her cuffs and snapped them on him.

"You," she snarled, "are under arrest for the attempted assault of a federal agent and damaging federal property." Rachel pushed Freddie to his knees. "Now stay put."

She quickly returned to Hood, who was sitting up, rubbing his shoulder. Gina had her arm around him, trying to help him stand. Rachel unceremoniously pushed her aside. "Don't try to get up yet, does anything hurt?" Rachel breathed a sigh of relief as she quickly ran her hands over him, confirming that nothing was broken.

As she helped Hood stand, he leaned into her and murmured into her ear, "I thought we were supposed to keep our hands to ourselves in the field?" Rachel bit back a smile.

She regarded her charge with exasperation. "What? She," Rachel nodded to Gina, "shrieks like a banshee and you don't think to move?" Rachel leaned in closer. "Damn, you're bleeding, you've got a cut on your face."

"I hit the stall door on my way down." Jacob started to raise a hand to his cheek. "I must have scraped my face on it."

Rachel batted his hand away. "For Christ's sake, your hands are filthy. Don't touch your cut."

"You," she pointed to Gina, "there's a first aid kit in the SUV, get it."

She glowered down at Freddie and pulled out her cell phone. "I'll call Felix and have him send out the local cops. They can take him into temporary custody until I can arrange to have him transferred to a federal facility."

"Fuck, bitch, you're having the cops haul me off?" Freddie screeched. "I didn't do anything, it was an accident."

"Uh, Rachel, aren't you kind of over-reacting?" Wyatt asked, putting a hand on her arm.

Rachel shook off his hand. "If you," she spat out, "ever interfere with me doing my job again, I'll arrest you for impeding a federal investigation. Do I make myself clear?"

Wyatt's mouth fell open and he nodded dumbly. Jacob smiled at the sight.

"Freddie, shut your mouth." Rico ordered. He turned to Rachel, a pleading expression on his face. "Please, miss, Agent Young, don't do this. He's a good boy, he didn't mean any harm. Like he said, it was an accident."

Rachel wavered. In reality the incident was more a nasty prank than a real attack on Hood. The adrenaline was wearing off and it wasn't as if he had been seriously injured. Plus she hated to cause the old man any more distress. He seemed nice and he was already dealing with so much.

Sensing her hesitation, Rico decided to sweeten the deal. "Tell you what, you let Freddie slide on this, I'll let you dig up Bella."

A slow smile spread over Rachel's face. "Deal, but with one provision." She lightly kicked Freddie in the leg. "_He_ helps us collect the samples Dr. Hood wants." She smiled down at Freddie nastily. "_Especially_ the manure samples."

Rico burst out laughing and shook Rachel by the hand. "Deal, Agent Young. I'll even throw in his cousin." Rico looked up at Vincent who was peering over the edge of the loft. "You heard the lady Vincent, get your butt down and get ready to work."

Rachel uncuffed the sulking Freddie and turned to where Gina was fussing over Hood. She had his face in her hand and she was dabbing at his cut with a wipe. _'God, she might as well be cooing over him.'_ Rachel rolled her eyes and plucked the alcohol wipe from Gina's hand.

"It's a simple cut, for Christ's sake. You haven't got a band aid on it yet?" Rachel firmly swabbed the cut. She bent down and retrieved a band aid and antibiotic ointment. Smearing the ointment on the band aid, she slapped it on his cheek. She cocked an eyebrow at Gina. "See, hardly major surgery."

Hands on hips, she surveyed the occupants of the barn. "Now, do you think we could get those samples collected?"

They spent the rest of the morning collecting samples. There wasn't an inch of the farm that Hood didn't examine in detail. Rachel wasn't the only one to breathe a sigh of relief when Hood decided they didn't need to dig up Bella after all.

Rico himself had insisted on operating the backhoe to unearth the grave. But Hood had taken one look at the small stone surrounded by flowers and abruptly announced that tissue samples from Bella could wait.

It was after noon when they finally finished. Rachel was hot, tired, and dirty. She looked distastefully at her pants which were streaked with mud almost to the knee on one leg. She had slipped attempting to take a water sample and almost fallen into a stream. Even though she had made Freddie and his cousin collect the more disgusting samples, she didn't even want to think about what was trapped under her fingernails.

Jacob looked up from the notebook in which he was busily scribbling. "Now that we have our samples, I think we should check in with the local extension office before we head over to the university."

"No." Rachel said simply.

"What do you mean, no?" Jacob blinked in surprise.

Rachel looked at him impatiently. "_We_," she waved her hand at her soiled clothing, "are filthy. _We_ are not going anywhere, seeing anyone until _we_ have had a chance to clean up."

Jacob's eyes lit up with amusement as he took in Rachel's appearance. Not only were her pants covered in mud (and he suspected worse) but she had a smear of dirt on her forehead. Her hair was coming loose from her pony tail and dangled against her cheeks and there were still bits of straw in it.

His lips twitched and he managed not to smile, it would probably set her off. "Fine, so how do you want to proceed?"

Rachel checked her watch and pursed her lips in thought. "First order of business is a shower and clean clothes. Then we need to hook up with Felix, see what he's found out; maybe get some lunch." She looked pointedly at Wyatt and Gina. "We'll meet the two of you at the University around 3:00."

Wyatt began to protest, but it died at the look on Rachel's face. Mumbling that they would catch up with them later, Wyatt dragged Gina toward his pick-up. Jacob punctiliously made his farewells to Rico, thanking him for his cooperation.

Rachel threw a glance over at Hood as they drove back to town. His forehead was creased in thought as he reviewed what he had written in his notebook. "What? What are you thinking about? I mean, you don't have any more to work on than we had last night."

"That's not quite true." Jacob mused thoughtfully. "We started with the assumption that Gina's alfalfa was harmless; so several hypotheses sprung to mind. Unproven, yes, but potentially fruitful lines of inquiry. But now…" he shrugged.

Rachel frowned, "Well yeah, that's why I asked Felix to get background info on everyone involved. But we don't have that yet. Besides," She ran the morning's activities over in her head. "We haven't learned anything from the dairy, yet. We, you, still have to test the samples. What's different from what we knew last night?"

"I think after this morning we can rule out some lines of inquiry. The first hypothesis, the most obvious, was that the dairy owner had done something to either the cows or the alfalfa." Jacob shook his head. "You saw how proud he is of the dairy, the way he cared for the cows. I find it hard to believe he could kill off half his herd, let alone his prize cow.

Then there's Wyatt's behavior. Frankly, Gina's work simply isn't a threat to his career. But Gina seemed to think he would try to sabotage her work for personal reasons. Now, unless he's a much better actor than I give him credit for, he's been going out of his way to be helpful to us, to Gina, in this investigation."

Jacob shook his head. "In addition to his lack of motive regarding Gina, it appears that he has a great deal of respect for Mr. Cipriani. I don't see Wyatt hurting him, even if he was trying to sabotage Gina."

Jacob glanced at her sideways. "I also don't see Gina as doing this. You saw how frantic she was, is. I know you don't care for her, but I don't see her destroying her own career. She's worked too hard to get to where she is."

"Maybe," Rachel conceded, "but people have destroyed the things they should hold dear for money before. That's why I asked Felix for financials on everyone."

Rachel called Felix to let him know they were heading back into town. Felix had had a very productive morning and was anxious to fill them in on the details. He was thankful, after hearing Rachel's description of her appearance, that he hadn't been detailed to help out at the dairy. He agreed that it might be best to meet up after she had the chance to shower and change. The call ended as the SUV pulled into the hotel parking lot. Rachel informed Felix that they would meet him in the diner in 30 minutes.

Rachel quickly cleared Hood's room; she was anxious to get out of her filthy clothes. She had almost reached the connecting door to her room when she remembered to check if Hood had secured the hall door behind them. She turned and ran into Hood's chest. His arms went around her and he hugged her to him tightly; burying his face in the side of her head.

"Hood, no, we can't do this." Rachel tried to wiggle out of his embrace, but Jacob tightened his grip around her. "You need to let me go. I meant it when I said we can't have sex when we're in the field."

Jacob tipped her face up to his. "I know. I don't like it, but I accept that you're right; at least in this case. But." He sighed and buried his face in her hair again. "You realize," he whispered in her ear, "he was trying to hurt you today, not me."

"What are you talking about?"

"That bastard, Freddie. _You_ were the one right under that bale of hay. If Wyatt hadn't grabbed you, pulled you out of the way; you could have been seriously injured." Jacob tried to pull Rachel even closer. "It only glanced off my shoulder because I was reaching for you."

"No, you were the one…."

"Rachel, don't argue, its simple physics; angles, velocity, the movement of matter through time and space. I know what I'm talking about. A bale of hay weighs between 60 and 130 pounds. Falling from that height, it could have snapped you neck if it hit you just right. It was never a source of danger to me, only you."

Rachel was shocked. It had never occurred to her that either of them could have been seriously injured. While she had been angered, she had considered it a malicious prank. "But…"

"Hush," he whispered. "Just let me hold you for a minute. I just need to feel that you're safe."

They stood pressed together for several minutes. Jacob holding her firmly against him with one hand, while the other ran up and down her back. He absently kissed the top of her head, as he breathed deeply letting the memory of the incident wash away.

Rachel eventually relaxed against Jacob; sighing with contentment, enjoying the feeling of his hands, his body, his kiss. She raised a hand to thread her fingers through his hair. Pulling his head down, she whispered in his ear. "Umm, maybe I've been hasty. Maybe we do have time for a nooner, after all."

She was rewarded with a gust of laugher against her ear. "A nooner? I don't think so. That would be like offering a starving man a light snack." Jacob pulled back and tipped her face up. "Temporarily satisfying, but in the long run incredibly frustrating." He lightly brushed a kiss across her lips. "No, I want you to much for that. I'm willing to wait until I can make love to you properly."

He pulled away from her, ignoring her growl of protest. "No, we have to meet Felix." He smiled as he nudged her toward her room. "You should go and have your shower; a nice, cold one."


	4. Chapter 4

Entering the diner, Jacob and Rachel were surprised to see Felix in a booth near the rear of the restaurant. He was leaning forward, chatting and laughing with a woman. As they moved toward the booth, they could see that the woman was in the uniform of the local police department. Felix broke off his conversation and jumped to his feet as he noticed them approach.

"Hey, Doc, Agent Young," he greeted them. Nodding to the woman seated, "I'd like you to meet Deputy Lisa Jackson. She's been giving me the run-down on all the locals." Felix then smoothly slid into the booth to sit beside her. "Lisa, this is Dr. Hood and Agent Young."

Rachel bit back a smile as she shoved Hood into the booth and slipped in beside him. "Glad to meet you. So, you've been filling Felix in on all the local gossip?"

"We've actually been swapping gossip." The woman smiled broadly at their look of confusion. "It might have been late when you checked in last night, but trust me, the news that the FBI had blown into town to investigate Rico's dead cows was all over town by morning. Felix here has been filling me in on your reason for being here."

"Shit!" Rachel exclaimed. She looked at Felix in consternation. "Did you get in touch with the local office before …?"

"Don't worry, it's all good." Felix reassured her. "I got a hold of the head of the local field office right after breakfast. He already knew we were here, but he calmed down quick. Let him know that we're here at the behest of the USDA. He's cool."

Rachel visibly relaxed. The last thing she needed or wanted was a turf war with the local office. She was relieved to know that she wouldn't have to worry about them trying to assert their rights, interfering with the investigation.

"Well, what have you got for us?"

Before Felix could answer, the waitress bustled up to take their orders. She greeted Lisa avidly and hovered a bit longer than needed after taking their orders. When it became apparent that none of the occupants of the booth were going to talk in front of her, she left to place their order.

"So," Rachel continued, "what _are_ people saying about the dead cows? About the people involved?"

"Mostly they're saying that it's a damn shame." Lisa answered promptly. "Rico Cipriani is well liked around here. He's an old-timer, built that dairy from the ground up. He's one of the leading citizens of the valley. You can always count on him for a substantial donation to any local charity."

"So there'd be no out to ruin him?" Rachel wanted to know. "Kill off the cows hoping to drive him into bankruptcy?"

"Not likely." Felix snorted. When Rachel raised her eyebrows in surprise, Lisa supplied an explanation.

"Look, you met Rico this morning, right?" Jacob and Rachel nodded.

"I'll bet you pegged him as a real salt-of-the-earth, old fashioned farmer. Loves the land, the animals, lives for his dairy, right?" Her eyes danced with amusement. "And you'd be right. But that's only one part of Rico. The other part is the shrewd financial manager."

Lisa explained to them that while Rico Cipriani had begun life as a humble dairy farmer, he hadn't stayed that way. When his dairy had begun to make a profit, he had used the money to diversify. He had invested in land in the valley, in vineyards in Sonoma, and various business schemes. Rumor had it that Rico had invested heavily in Silicon Valley and had the good fortune to sell out his shares before the bubble burst. He was still the CEO of Cipriani International Investments, although he now left the main work of managing the company to his children.

"But Gina, Wyatt," Jacob sputtered. "They both assured us that the loss would most likely wipe Rico out. That it was a financial disaster for him."

"Those two?" Lisa snorted. "Dr. Dawkins and Dr. Payne? Nice kids, both of them, but what they don't know about the real world would amaze you."

Rachel and Felix exchanged a quick grin. It was a complaint they were very familiar with.

Lisa was interrupted by the return of the waitress with their food. She waited patiently until they were once again alone. "Losing half his herd? That hurt Rico in the heart, not the pocketbook. He loves that dairy; it's where he began, where he and his wife were happiest. Hell, he'll most likely come out ahead financially, probably get to write the whole thing off on his taxes."

Lisa's radio suddenly crackled to life, she grimaced as she answered the call. "Damn, got to go out to an accident."

Felix slid out the booth and held out a hand to her. "It was good meeting, talking to you Lisa, thanks for all the help."

Lisa smiled as she shook his hand. "Pleasure was all mine Felix. Give me a call if you need anything else, need someone to show you around."

Felix sat down and frowned at the smirk on Rachel's face. "What? I was just showing the woman some professional courtesy, that's all." He raised his eyebrows. "It's not like I was flirting with her just to piss…"

"Yes, well," Rachel interrupted, a blush starting to appear on her cheeks. "How much did you manage to find out this morning? 

It turned out that Felix had learned quite a lot. Between his contacts at the Bureau and his long gossipy talk with Lisa, Felix had just about all the pertinent information on the various actors in their case. Both Wyatt and Gina had come up clean on the financial check. They were both living well within their incomes and the only significant debts they had were school loans. Their bank accounts showed only normal activity; in the past year they had not had any unexplained deposits.

The local gossip was just as favorable. Both of the young academics were well liked by the farmers. They, and their students, had been working in the area for the past two years. Gina was generally held to be a "bit touchy" while Wyatt was universally considered one of them. Partially because of his outgoing personality; partiall because he had come from a farming background.

Simon Robinson wasn't so straightforward. He lived extravagantly and was regularly overdrawn at his bank. Felix had had a moment of excitement when he discovered a deposit of $100,000 in the man's bank account two months ago. A quick check with the IRS revealed that Dr. Robinson had declared the income as gambling winnings from a trip to Los Vegas.

Felix's research had confirmed what Lisa had said about Rico Cipriani's finances. The man was extremely wealthy. The dairy may have been the start of his empire, but now it was more a hobby. An expensive hobby to be sure, but the loss of the cows wouldn't affect his net worth at all.

"Especially," Felix said ominously, "since he's not really the owner."

In conducting his background check on Rico Cipriani, Felix had discovered an unexpected fact. It seemed that there were two Federico Anthony Ciprianis with a financial interest in Orchard Hill Dairy. Rico had signed over 49% of the dairy to his grandson, Federico Anthony Cipriani, III a year before.

"That jerk Freddie owns half the dairy!" Rachel exclaimed.

"Not half, 49%, the old man kept the controlling interest. But yeah, the grandson owns half." Felix explained. His eyes narrowed in dislike.

"Lisa had a lot to say about him. Seems he's _not_ a chip off the old block. When he was a kid, his parents would ship him down here to stay with his grandparents. He's been in and out of trouble since he was a teenager. Nothing major, a few DWIs, a bar fight or two, vandalism. The kind of stuff his grandfather could buy his way out of."

"How are his financials? Could he have a motive to sabotage Gina's work?" Rachel asked sharply.

Felix shook his head. "Nah, he's a trust fund baby. Gets an allowance from the family every quarter. It's not a fortune and he blows it all. But he doesn't have any real expenses. Lives either with his parents in San Francisco or with his grandfather here. Drives a company car. He's smart enough to stay out of real trouble; he gets into any kind of debt, his grandfather bails him out."

'Why in the world would Rico sign over half the dairy to his grandson?" Jacob wondered. "He obviously loves the place, takes great pride in it." He looked at Felix and Rachel disapprovingly. "Freddie hardly seems like a worthy successor to his grandfather."

"Yeah," Felix agreed. "Lisa said people around here were real surprised when that happened. The old man said he was trying to give the kid a sense of ownership, responsibility." He cocked his head. "She also said that rumor has it that old Rico is starting to pull the reins in a bit, not so quick to come to the rescue."

"Well, this is all very interesting, but it isn't getting us any closer to the answer." Jacob announced. "I think it's time we headed over to the university. I'd like to get a start on reviewing the work already done, test our samples."

"What would you like me to do this afternoon, ma'am?" Felix looked at Rachel.

Before she could answer, Jacob spoke up. "I'd like you to accompany us Felix."

"Why?" Rachel objected. "Felix can hardly run the tests you need done. I'd rather he…"

"No," Jacob cut her off firmly. "We need to know more about Robinson. We only have Wyatt's word that he was harassing Gina, trying to get her fired. I'd like some independent confirmation of that." He tilted his head. "And that very convenient gambling win, I wonder if he's known for that kind of activity, or is it a cover for something else, a payoff, maybe?"

"But Doc, how am I gonna find out any of that by coming with you? It's the semester break; there won't be anyone for me to talk to."

Jacob looked at Felix with raised eyebrows. "Hardly, Felix. Trust me, you'll find the perfect source for all of this information at the university and they'll be dying to talk to you."

Jacob's lips twitched at the puzzled expressions on Rachel and Felix's faces. "The secretaries will be there and they know all of the dirt in the department. Since its break they don't have that much work to do, but they still have to show up. They're most likely bored to death." He shrugged. "They'll be happy to see a new face."

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A short drive brought them the university. As they made their way through the deserted hallways, Rachel and Felix realized the truth of Jacob's statement. The few people they encountered, rather than being wary of strangers, seemed overjoyed at the break in the tedium of their day. Felix discovered a clutch of secretaries having a late afternoon break; with a wink he peeled off to join them.

As Jacob and Rachel made their way to the lab, they could hear raised voices. Gina and Wyatt were arguing. Jacob paused at the door of the lab and motioned for Rachel to wait. They listened carefully; Gina seemed to be berating Wyatt for not sharing information with her. Rachel's eyebrows rose and she pushed open the door hurriedly as the sound of a hand hitting flesh could be clearly heard. Wyatt was looking at Gina with surprise, his hand held to his cheek.

"What seems to be the problem?" Jacob asked.

"The problem," Gina glared at Wyatt, "is that Dr. Payne-in-the-ass here has been running tests on the samples Dr. Robinson collected and he won't share his conclusions with me."

"I _can't_ share them with you, I'm not sure what they mean and I'm not going public until I have some backup." Wyatt turned to Jacob for support. "I'm sure you understand Dr. Hood. I've found something, that, well, that's unusual. But I'm not sure what it means, or if I'm even right. It would be irresponsible of me to tell anyone until I have some confirmation."

Jacob looked thoughtful. "As much as it distresses you Gina, I'm afraid that I have to agree with Wyatt. But," he looked at the younger man, "what kind of confirmation are you looking for?"

"I did some tests on the samples, and the results are," Wyatt paused, "like I said, unusual. But I don't have the experience Dr. Robinson has, maybe I've missed something."

"Unusual in what way?" Jacob wanted to know.

Wyatt shook his head stubbornly. "I'd rather not say. Just do your own tests and then we can compare notes."

Jacob titled his head to one side and considered the man for a few moments. "Fine," he said abruptly. "Let me get to work then."

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Jacob spent the next few hours working steadily with Wyatt's assistance. First, he reviewed the findings of Dr. Robinson's tests and the reports on the necropsies on the cows. Then he carefully tested the remaining samples, comparing his findings to what had been previously discovered.

Finally Jacob began running tests on the samples they had collected from the dairy that morning. Rachel and Gina were sent to collect specimens of the alfalfa that Gina was growing in the college's greenhouses. Even Rachel, who had no scientific background, could tell from Hood's frowns that something was wrong.

Felix had briefly joined them in the lab. The secretaries were gone for the day but they had given him several interesting tidbits. He had briefly conferred with Rachel, before retiring to Gina's office to use her phone. He needed to make a few calls to confirm what he had learned.

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"I just don't understand this," Jacob mused. "I mean, he's not _wrong_, but he's not right …"

Rachel blew out her breath in exasperation. "What do you mean? He's either right or he's wrong. He can't be both."

Jacob shook his head briefly and flashed Rachel a small smile. "I'm having trouble with Dr. Robinson's findings. Overall, he's not wrong, but he's made several leaps of logic to come to his conclusions." He cocked his head at Wyatt. "Is that what was troubling you Wyatt?"

Wyatt shrugged noncommittally. "What exactly is troubling you Dr. Hood."

Jacob's mouth twisted in amusement. "Please Wyatt, its Jacob. And well, several things are troubling me." He fell silent.

"Like what?" Rachel nudged him.

"Well, the cause of death for example."

"It wasn't that tro-whatever stuff in their hearts?" Rachel asked.

"Troponin," Jacob corrected her with a smile. "The necropsy clearly showed an excess of troponin in the heart muscles, it was undoubtedly a major factor in the cows' deaths."

"Which is where we started, right?" Rachel screwed up her face in confusion.

"Not exactly. The troponin was a by-product, a result of the fact that the cows were in renal failure. While it wasn't exactly wrong to say that the cows died of heart disease, it wasn't exactly right either."

At Rachel's further look of confusion, Jacob elaborated. "Think of a patient with, I don't know, lung cancer. Due to chemotherapy, their kidneys are damaged; they shut down. Now once your kidneys shut down, you die fairly quickly. So, what killed the patient?" He looked at Rachel expectantly.

"Renal failure?"

Jacob nodded. "Absolutely. You could say that patient died of renal failure. And that is correct, but not the complete story, the real cause of death is the cancer. The same thing with the cows."

"But what's the difference? The cows are dead, just like the patient with cancer. Does it really matter?"

"Of course it matters!" Gina burst out.

"Well, why?" Rachel asked patiently. "Dead is dead. Why does it matter?"

"It matters," Jacob put in, "because if the cause of death is renal failure, than we need to take a closer look at the kidneys." He raised his eyebrows, "which I just did." He looked over at Wyatt. "I take it this is what you were talking about earlier.?"

"Yeah," Wyatt nodded grimly. "I meant what I said before. I don't have the experience Dr. Robinson has, I thought maybe I just missed something, didn't get the connections he made. But if you're seeing the same thing I'm seeing, then, yeah. Dr. Robinson screwed up."

"Why?" Rachel persisted. "Why does it matter? The alfalfa damaged the cows' kidneys instead of the hearts, what's the difference?"

"The difference," Jacob explained "is that the alfalfa had nothing to do with the damage to the cows kidneys. The alfalfa was only postulated as the cause since, absent the kidney damage, nothing else could satisfactorily explain the troponin in the heart tissue."

"I _knew_ it!" Gina exclaimed triumphantly. "I knew my alfalfa wasn't to blame."

Rachel shot her a skeptical look. "Why can you be so sure Hood? Why couldn't the alfalfa have caused the kidney damage?"

"Because of this." Jacob tapped the mass spectrometer in front of him. "The kidney sample showed traces of a chemical residue. I've run it through the mass spec; it's a combination of sodium fluoride and copper naphthenate. Furthermore, I found traces of this same chemical in the manure and feed samples we collected this morning, but none in the alfalfa."

Jacob pursed his lips thoughtfully. "I can't put my finger on it, but those two substances in combination sound familiar." He shook his head. "Maybe a search in the patent database will yield some results."

"No need." Wyatt looked slightly sick. "I know exactly what that compound is, furthermore, so should Dr. Robinson. It's the formulation for a product known as Cop-R-Plastic."

At Jacob and Rachel's look of confusion, Wyatt explained. "It's a wood preservative. Farmers use it on their fences. But you have to be real careful with it. If it gets on the grass or hay, it can cause renal failure in the cattle."

"Was it was an accident?" Rachel looked doubtful. "Or do you think someone did this on purpose?"

"I don't know and I don't care," snapped Gina. "All I know is that bastard Robinson _had_ to have known it wasn't my alfalfa. He was out to ruin me, that son of a bitch." She involuntarily flexed her fingers. "Just wait until I get my hands on him."

"It may not be that simple," Rachel said slowly.

"What are you talking about?" Gina asked.

"Rachel's correct," Jacob said. "We discovered that Robinson recently deposited a great deal of money into his bank account. It is possible that someone paid him to come to the conclusion he did. Ruining your career may not have been the main point."

"Who would do that?" Gina was bewildered. "It's not as if my work would hurt any corporate interests, who would pay to ruin my career?"

"Maybe they didn't want to hurt you," Rachel said. "Maybe you're just collateral damage. Rico Cipriani might have been the target all along." She looked at Hood. "We need to question Robinson."

This kicked off an argument. Gina wanted to accompany them, she wanted to confront Robinson with what they had discovered. Wyatt supported her. He was equally angry with the man. It appalled him to think that the man would abuse his position, take a bribe, to ruin Gina's career.

Rachel vetoed any involvement by the two. She argued that their presence would be counter-productive. That their attacking Robinson would immediately put the man on the defensive, lessen her chance of conducting a fruitful interrogation. Jacob listened to the bickering with increasing irritation.

"Enough!" he exploded. "Neither one of you is accompanying us and that's final. You have to understand, this has gone beyond a simple matter of academic integrity. When the time comes, I'll be more than happy to deal with Dr. Robinson's transgressions. But right now, we're dealing with what may be a serious crime. You have to let us deal with it."

"Deal with what Doc?" Felix strolled back into the lab.

"Robinson." Jacob answered shortly. "It seems he falsified his report to the USDA."

"Not surprising," Felix said. "According to the secretaries there's not much they'd put past him. Not a popular man."

Jacob's eyebrows rose. "Do tell."

Felix settled himself comfortably against a desk. "Well, first off, it seems that Wyatt here was telling the nothing but the truth when he told you that Robinson was a ladies' man."

"You told them!" Gina snapped at Wyatt furiously. Wyatt colored up, but Felix cut him off before he could justify his action.

"Of course he did, it was important. Like I said, the secretaries all confirmed that Robinson has a bad rep when it comes to women. But there's never been a whisper of any quid pro quo. Doesn't hold a grudge if he gets turned down, just moves on to ah, more welcoming pastures. And none of the women have ever complained about his behavior, until Gina here."

Felix cocked his head and regarded Gina with amusement. "They're divided on you. Half of them think you're a hero for standing up to the bastard. The other half thinks you're an idiot to have put your career on the line to put him in his place."

"What about the gambling? Did they know anything about that?" Rachel asked.

Felix nodded, his face grim. "Yep, they sure did. Seems that Robinson has a real down on gambling. Makes fun of them for buying lottery tickets, made 'em quit their office football pool. They said that Vegas would be the last place in the world he'd go."

"Gambling? Vegas?" Wyatt asked. "You said before that Robinson had a big deposit at the bank. You think he won it gambling in Vegas."

"It's what he told the IRS about the money." Rachel shrugged.

"When was this supposed to have happened."

Felix pulled out his notebook. "Two months ago, beginning of November."

Gina and Wyatt exchanged looks. "Robinson was supposed to be at a symposium in early November," Wyatt said. "He made a big deal out of it."

"Ok," Rachel announced. "Here's the plan. Hood and I will go and tackle Robinson." She overrode Wyatt and Gina's objections. "You three head back to the hotel. You two," she pointed to Gina and Wyatt, "will brainstorm to think of anyone, any company that might want to sabotage Gina's work. Felix, you can run down the names they come up with."

"But you said they might be doing this to hurt Mr. Cipriani." Gina objected.

"Right," Rachel agreed. She turned to Felix with a grin. "So, Agent Lee, know anyone who might be able to help you with local color? Who might know who has it out for Cipriani?"

Felix returned her grin. "I think I just might Agent Young."

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Jacob and Rachel drove in silence toward Robinson's house. Rachel glanced over at him, saw he was starring pensively out the window.

"You ok?"

Jacob collected his thoughts. "Actually, no, I'm not." He looked over at Rachel, saw the concern on her face. He shook his head sadly. "I loved teaching, being an academic, as much as I loved the science. The satisfaction of mentoring students, the freedom to conduct my research as I saw fit, even the writing.

To think of that bastard Robinson abusing his position with those women, undermining a colleague's work, frankly it makes me sick." He shook his head. "I don't understand him."

Rachel looked at him curiously. "You sound like you miss it. Do you ever think of going back?"

Jacob smiled, reached out to touch Rachel's cheek gently. "No, I'm perfectly satisfied with my life right now."

Rachel returned his smile. They finished the journey in silence.

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Robinson blustered when they confronted him. He claimed that he had a scientific basis for his conclusions. That his reputation was as impeccable as Jacob's and that there was no reason for anyone to doubt his abilities. But he collapsed quickly when Jacob confronted him with the results of the mass spec analysis of the kidney and feed samples. He denied forcefully, however, that he had been paid for his report to the USDA. He insisted that the money he had deposited in his bank account was indeed from a big gambling win in Las Vegas.

Rachel gave the man a skeptical look. "Really, you won it in Vegas? Funny thing is, everyone we talked to said that Vegas isn't your style at all."

"Well, there's a first time for everything," he snapped. "You can check with the IRS. The casino had me file papers about my winnings."

"It wouldn't be the first time a casino was used to launder money." Rachel shot back.

Robinson's mouth fell open. "Christ, you think I'm doing business with the mob or something?"

"According to your colleagues," Jacob put in, "you were at a symposium the weekend of this supposed windfall. Can you explain the discrepancy?"

Robinson collapsed back onto his sofa. Rubbing his hands over his face he sat and thought for a few moments. Finally he looked up at them, a defeated look on his face.

"Ok, it's like this. That symposium? It was run by an old friend of mine. I submitted my paper and he agreed to present it for me. I spent the weekend in Vegas, with a, uh, friend. I really did win a hundred thousand playing black-jack. I swear, that's what happened."

"This _friend_ can corroborate your story?" Rachel asked coolly. "We'll need to talk to her."

Robinson sighed and got to his feet. Going to the bottom of the stairs, he called out. "Tiffy, can you come down here?"

Jacob and Rachel exchanged glances as a young woman came down the stairs. She looked _very _young. She was wearing a skimpy t-shirt and tight jeans.

"This is Tiffy." Robinson said. "She can tell you what happened."

Rachel regarded the young woman with some amusement. "We need you to tell us about a trip you took with your _father_ here last November." Jacob gave a small snort of amusement. Tiffy and Robinson both glared at her with dislike.

"Simon _isn't_ my father," Tiffy began angrily. "He's…"

Robinson quickly interrupted her. "Just tell them about the trip Tiffy."

"Fine." She looked at Rachel sullenly. "It was for my birthday, ok?. Simon promised to take me, like somewhere nice? I always wanted to go to Vegas, so that's what we did. To see some shows?"

"No gambling?" Rachel asked.

"Uh, yeah, since it was my 21st birthday, Simon decided to play black-jack, you know? 21? He won all kinds of money."

Robinson shifted uncomfortably, aware of the looks of disgust on the faces of his visitors. "Tiffy, why don't you go back upstairs." The girl opened her mouth to protest, but ducked her head in agreement after one look at his face.

Robinson sank back down on the sofa at Tiffy's departure. He looked up at Jacob, "what next? I assume tomorrow you'll be reporting me to the University's administration? To the USDA?"

Jacob raised his eyebrows and shook his head slowly. "_I_ won't be doing anything." Robinson's look of relief was short-lived as Jacob continued. "_You_ on the other hand, will be filing a new report with the USDA, completely clearing Gina's work. Then you will be resigning your position as chair of the Biological Sciences Department.

And if I _ever_ hear a whisper that you're serving on a hiring, tenure or research committee, or as a dissertation advisor, I will _personally_ rain down hell on you. Am I perfectly clear?"

Startled, Robinson could only nod his agreement. With a final look of contempt, Jacob stalked from the room, Rachel following behind.

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It was late by the time they reached the hotel. Rachel and Jacob stopped, surprised by the noise coming from behind the closed door of Hood's room. With a frown, Rachel opened the door and they stepped inside.

Rachel stopped short a few paces into the room. She planted her hands on her hips and began to scowl. The room seemed overflowing with people. Felix, Deputy Jackson, Wyatt and Gina were sprawled in the chairs and on the bed, eating pizza, laughing, and talking. They were also, with the exception of Gina, drinking beer.

"Agent Lee," Rachel barked. "I assume you've finished running down the leads," she jerked her head toward the others, "they were supposed to be supplying you with?"

"Ah, yeah, kind of, ma'am." Felix looked guilty as he sat up in his chair.

Rachel burst out laughing at the expression on his face. "Don't worry Felix. I'm still pissed off from dealing with Robinson." She snagged a piece of pizza from the box on the table and nudged Gina to make room for her on the bed. "Find out anything interesting?"

"What did you do to Robinson?" Gina asked eagerly. "Did he admit what he did? Is he going to clear my name?"

Jacob filled them in on what happened with Robinson. Although the cops in the room thought Hood had let Robinson off way to easy, it was apparent to them that the academics approved his actions. At Lisa and Felix's skeptical looks, Jacob explained that what he had done was the professorial equivalent of a death sentence.

"So what have you guys been working on?" Rachel asked as she finished her pizza. She cocked an eyebrow at Felix. "Assuming you have been working?"

Felix straightened up and reported on the evenings activities. Wyatt and Gina hadn't been able to think of anyone or any company that might be threatened by Gina's work. Her alfalfa wasn't designed to replace anything, it was meant to supplement the feed usually given to the cows. Her research was unique, no one else in the country was trying anything like it, so a competitor was unlikely.

They had similar result on their inquiries about an enemy of Rico Cipriani. Since Rico had been hurt personally rather than financially by the cows' deaths, they figured it had to be someone local, someone with a grudge. And Lisa was firm in her contention that Rico simply did not have any enemies like that in the valley.

Felix was the one to come up their best lead. He had re-checked the financial information he had retrieved on Freddie Cipriani. A month ago, Freddie had made a payment to a local insurance company. Felix and Lisa hadn't been able to reach the insurance agent to see exactly what it was that Freddie had insured.

"Good work, Felix," Rachel said approvingly. "We'll follow up on that first thing tomorrow. Right now," she turned to the others. "I suggest you clean up this mess and take off."

"Actually, ma'am, Lisa, ah, Deputy Jackson and I thought we might see if we can run down that insurance agent tonight." Felix looked at Rachel earnestly. "Hit a few of the local hot spots."

"Excellent initiative Agent Lee," Rachel replied with a straight face. "I really have to commend you for your dedication to duty."

Felix grinned in response. "I hoped you see it that way. I'll say goodnight now." He quickly escorted Lisa from the room.

Gina and Wyatt showed a tendency to want to linger and gossip. But Rachel loaded them down with the left-over pizza and beer and firmly escorted them from the room.

Rachel leaned back against the door with a sigh of relief. It had been a long day and she was looking forward to a chance to rest.

"Finally," she looked at Hood with a grin. "Alone at last."

"Humph, for all the good it does."

"Oh, don't be so grumpy Hood. Look on the bright side."

Jacob tilted his head. "And that would be what, exactly?"

Rachel paused in the connecting doorway. "If this lead pans out, by this time tomorrow we may be back home in DC." She smiled at him seductively. "Not in the field."


	5. Chapter 5

They met in the back booth at the diner again early the next morning. Felix was sitting beside Lisa and her uniform was distinctly rumpled. "So," Rachel regarded Felix with raised eyebrows. "Find your insurance agent last night?"

Felix had the grace to look slightly embarrassed. "Uh, no, never did quite catch up with him. I figure Lisa and I will try his office after breakfast."

"No need for that," Lisa said. She raised her hand and waved to a man who had entered the diner. "Hey, Karl, back here." She looked at Jacob and Rachel calmly. "This place is popular with the local business people. They come in for coffee and gossip before they start their day. I thought we might catch him here."

Lisa quickly performed introductions as the middle-aged, graying man pulled up a chair. He regarded the trio from the FBI with frank curiosity.

"You're looking into what happened to Rico's cows, huh? I thought it was an accident, one of those experiments he goes in for gone wrong?"

"What do you mean? One of his experiments gone wrong?" Rachel asked.

The man shrugged. "Rico's a damn good dairyman. But that dairy of his, it's not his livelihood. He can afford to let those kids from the university test their latest theories on his cows. Word around town _was_ that one of the experiments went bad, killed half the herd."

He knitted is brows together and shot them a level look. "At least that's what people _were_ saying before you showed up." He shrugged again. "I have to say, if Lisa here hadn't called me over, I would have wanted to talk to you anyway."

"Why is that?" Rachel asked.

"Insurance," he replied succinctly. He narrowed his eyes at the look the foursome exchanged. "Now why do I get the feeling that this isn't a surprise to you? Is that why Lisa called me over, what you wanted to talk to me about?"

Rachel regarded the man cautiously. "Yes, it is. It's our understanding the Freddie Cipriani purchased an insurance policy from you. What can you tell us about it?"

"Damn it. So there is some funny business about those cows." Karl exclaimed. "That little shit, I can't believe he'd do that to Rico."

"Calm down Karl," Lisa admonished him. "You're attracting attention. No one said anything about any funny business. We just need to know about the insurance Freddie bought."

"Yeah, right," Karl regarded her sourly. "It's like this. Rico's always insured the dairy with me, my company. Well, the kid came in to see me. Said he wanted a rider on the livestock insurance."

"Wait, livestock insurance, what's that?" Rachel asked.

Karl shook his head. "It's just what it sounds like. Livestock is the biggest investment a farmer, dairyman has. You insure their lives just like you would your own. It's a standard policy."

"I'm guessing," Jacob said slowly, "that your company wouldn't have paid off if the cows died from being fed an experimental feed?"

"Damn straight they wouldn't" Karl growled. "Rico wants to take a chance giving his cows untested, unproven feed, that's his look-out. It's not something we'd insure against."

Rachel looked at the man thoughtfully. "What if the cows accidentally ate some…" She searched her memory. "Some Cop-R-Plastic? Would you pay out then?"

Karl's jaw dropped. "That's what killed those cows?" He shook his head decisively. "Not in a million years. That stuff's a know hazard around cattle."

Lisa brought them back to the point. "Tell us about the rider Freddie wanted."

"Damn, thought for once the kid was doing the right thing. That maybe Rico was right, he just needed to feel some responsibility for something," Karl sighed. "Never thought it would turn out like this."

What _it_ was was simple. Freddie Cipriani had come into Karl's office to inquire about a rider on the livestock insurance. He specifically wanted coverage on that part of the herd that was being given the experimental feed. Freddie had piously explained to Karl that while his grandfather might treat the dairy as a hobby, he at least, realized that it was a business. It was good sense to insure the cows against the risk Rico was taking with them.

At Rachel's insistence, they left the diner immediately. She had a hunch, which could only be confirmed by viewing the policy that Karl had on file at his office. They were at the office in minutes and it didn't take long for Karl to come up with the paperwork.

"It's a fairly simple rider," Karl explained. "I don't know what you hope to find."

"Here!" Rachel was triumphant. She pointed to the name on the policy.

Karl squinted at where she was pointing. "It's made out to Rico, so what."

"No it's not," Rachel answered softly. "Look closer, it's made out to Federico A. Cipriani…"

"That's Rico's legal name." Karl interrupted.

"The third." Rachel completed. She looked at Karl. "Has Freddie put in a claim on this policy?"

"Not yet." was the grim reply.

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"But how," protested Felix, "could Freddie be sure that they'd blame the alfalfa?"

The three law enforcement personnel sat back with identical sighs of frustration. That was the crux of the matter. After leaving the insurance agency, they had adjourned to Lisa's office to discuss the situation. They had established that Freddie had the motive and the opportunity to poison the cows, but how could he have hoped to get away with it? How could he be assured that Robinson would declare the alfalfa the cause of the cow's deaths?

"That 100 thousand, it _must_ have been a bribe from Freddie," Rachel declared stubbornly. "Robinson must have coached Tiffy to lie about the trip to Vegas."

"Nah, I've gone over his financials a dozen times now," Felix answered. "There's no way he had access to that much cash."

"Besides," Lisa objected. "If Freddie had access to that much cash, why try insurance fraud? The cows were only insured for a quarter million."

Jacob had been sitting quietly while the three had argued the various points of the case. He finally lost his patience. "Why don't we ask him?"

Smiles spread across the faces of the three as they regarded the scientist. "From the mouths of babes!" Rachel declared.

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They agreed that Lisa should accompany them to the dairy. Their best hope in wringing the truth out of Freddie was to catch him by surprise, to bluff him into thinking that they knew more than they did. While the case against Freddie was strong, it was all circumstantial. The lack of a connection to Robinson was a hole that a good defense attorney could drive a truck through.

Rico and his grandson were just coming out of the barn when they arrived at the dairy. Freddie's eyes widened when he saw the squad car.

"Hey, Lisa," Rico called out. "You figure out what happened to my cows Dr. Hood?"

"I'm afraid we have, Mr. Cipriani," Rachel answered. She turned to Freddie. "Freddie Cipriani? We'd like to ask you a few questions."

With an oath, Freddie took off. He hopped the fence separating the barnyard from the drive and began running toward the house where his car was parked. Lisa and Felix were in close pursuit, Rico had grabbed Rachel's arm and was demanding explanations. She was arguing with Rico when a shout from Felix, abruptly cut short, claimed their attention.

Halfway to the house, Lisa and Felix had finally caught up with Freddie. But Felix, as he was about to grab Freddie by the arm, had stepped in a pothole. His body twisted as he fell and the back his head had struck one of the decorative stones lining the drive. Lisa had tackled Freddie and was in the process of cuffing him when Jacob, Rachel, and Rico came hurrying up.

Felix was groaning as Rachel and Jacob dropped down beside him. "Felix, are you all right?" Rachel asked anxiously.

"Ah, yeah, I think so," Felix winced in pain.

"Don't try to sit up," Jacob ordered. "You may have a head injury." He looked up at Lisa. "Can you call for an ambulance?"

"I don't need an ambulance Doc," Felix protested. "It's my ankle mostly. Damn. I think I broke it, it hurts like hell."

Jacob shot a look at Lisa, who hurried to her squad car to call the ambulance.

"That may be," Jacob answered patiently, "but your head hit that rock pretty hard." As he spoke his fingers were examining the back of the big man's head. "You seem to have a nasty cut, I wouldn't be surprised if you had a slight concussion." As he spoke, he withdrew his fingers which were now covered with blood.

"Is that, that, …blood?" Felix asked. With that, he promptly fainted.

Rachel and Jacob exchanged surprised looks over Felix's unconscious body. Lisa returned from the squad car and announced that the ambulance was on its way. She was concerned to see that Felix was out cold. "Jesus, is he ok? I thought he only hurt his ankle."

Jacob tried not to smile. He figured that Felix wouldn't be thrilled to have Lisa know that he fainted at the sight of blood. "Uh, he may have a concussion. We really need to get him to the hospital."

With Hood taking care of Felix, Rachel turned her attention to Freddie. Rico was insisting that Lisa uncuff him. She over-ruled Rico and informed him that Freddie needed to be questioned. His attempted escape meant that questioning was going to happen at police headquarters.

Lisa was hustling Freddie toward his squad car as the ambulance came screaming up the drive. Seeing Rachel hesitate, Jacob spoke up. "Go, I'll stay with Felix." Rachel began to argue, to remind Hood that he needed to stay with her.

Jacob over-ruled her. "You need to question Freddie. We can't leave Felix alone, he's unconscious. You go with Lisa, I'll stay with Felix. We'll wait for you at the hospital."

Rachel quickly made up her mind. "Fine, but stay glued to Felix's side and don't you _dare_ set foot outside that hospital until I get there." She turned and escorted Rico to the SUV.

Shaking his head Jacob turned his attention to the approaching paramedics. He tried to explain the accident to them, but they brushed him aside. They soon had a pressure bandage wound around Felix's head and his ankle iced down and immobilized. They were loading Felix into the ambulance when a problem arose.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" the lead paramedic demanded as Jacob attempted to climb into the ambulance.

"I'm going with Felix." Jacob explained simply.

"Sorry, buddy, but you can catch your own ride to the hospital."

"I'm sorry but that's not acceptable. I'm going in the ambulance with Felix."

"Look, the only ones allowed in the ambulance are family members. Since you're not related…."

"Why would you think that?"

"Well, you're sure as hell not his brother are you?" The paramedic smirked, "You telling me you're his spouse?"

Jacob titled his head and bit on his bottom lip. "I'm aware," he said carefully, "that the status of gay marriage is in doubt in California, but I can assure you that it is perfectly legal in the District."

"You're his spouse? Yeah right." The man looked incredulous.

Jacob regarded him disdainfully. "If we were a heterosexual couple would you demand to see a marriage license?"

"Hey Pete, what's holding things up? We need to get this guy to the hospital." The paramedic's partner called from the front of the ambulance.

Shrugging his shoulders, the paramedic indicated that Jacob should climb into the ambulance next to Felix.

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Several hours later a very disgruntled Agent Young and Deputy Jackson walked into the emergency room of the local hospital. Rachel looked around quickly, her irritation growing. Not only had things not gone well with Freddie, but neither Felix nor Hood was answering his cell phone. She wondered what the hell was going on with the two of them.

"Excuse me," Rachel flashed her badge at the admitting clerk. "I'm looking for Agent Lee. He was brought here earlier"

"Oh, yes," the young clerk stammered. "He was admitted for observation. He's in room 305."

"Admitted?" Rachel frowned. "What about the man with him? Dr. Hood?"

"You mean his husband?" The clerk looked disapproving. "A doctor, huh? I guess that explains why he was such a pain. Made the attending do all kinds of tests. I suppose he's still with him."

Lisa's eyebrows climbed up her forehead. "His husband? You mean?" She looked at Rachel in astonishment.

Rachel snorted with laughter. She wasn't sure which was funnier. Hood claiming to be Felix's husband or the expression on Lisa's face. Grabbing Lisa by the arm, she towed the woman toward the elevators.

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"I can't believe you did that." Felix said for the hundredth time.

"Oh for heaven's sake," Jacob replied in annoyance. "Get over it. What did you expect me to do? Let them strand me at that farm? Rachel said…."

"What did Rachel say?" she asked from the doorway.

Jacob looked up from the chart he was perusing to smile at the two women in the doorway. Felix took one look at Lisa and collapsed back against his pillows with a moan.

"You said to stay with Felix." Jacob cocked his head. "The paramedic wasn't going to let me in the ambulance since I wasn't a family member. Felix was unconscious, couldn't demand I accompany him, so ..."

"So you told him you were _married_?" Rachel asked.

"I didn't exactly do that."

Felix's mouth dropped open. "The hell you didn't. They kept calling you my husband down in the ER."

"No, I didn't lie." Jacob explained patiently. "I merely told the paramedic that gay marriage was perfectly legal in DC. If he chose to interpret that to mean…"

Rachel and Lisa burst out laughing, to Felix's dismay. "This isn't funny." he snapped.

"I don't know why you're so upset." Jacob complained. "My status as your spouse was useful."

"How?" Rachel wanted to know.

"Well for a start, it got me into that ambulance. Then, they shared all their medical information with me, let me see the charts, x-rays. None of this nonsense about privacy concerns. Finally, they were more willing to listen to me, run the tests I wanted done."

"Yeah, thanks for _that_ Doc." Felix put in grumpily.

"It's why he's been admitted." Jacob explained. "His ankle is only sprained, not broken. I insisted they do a CT scan on Felix's head. It turns out I was right, there is some evidence of concussion. They're keeping him overnight for observation."

"Yeah, just what I wanted to do, spend the night in the hospital with some nurse waking me up every few hours"

"Come on, Felix," Lisa teased. "I was going to offer to stay and keep you entertained, but now…"

To cover Felix's confusion, Jacob asked about their activities. "How did things go with Freddie? Did you get him to admit to anything?"

Rachel and Lisa exchanged sour looks. Things had not gone as they had hoped. Initially they were elated. Freddie admitted that he had laced the feed with the wood preservative. He had looked at them blankly though when they pressed him about his connection to Robinson. He denied even knowing the man.

"But how else could he count on Robinson faking the test results?" Felix asked.

The women rolled their eyes. Freddie, it turned out, could be the poster child for stupid criminals. According to him, it never occurred to him that there would be any kind of investigation. He had overhead Gina telling Rico about the problems with the earlier strain of alfalfa. When the cows died he had loudly and repeatedly blamed the alfalfa, reminded his grandfather of the earlier problems it had caused. Rico and the others had been only too willing to believe him.

Jacob's face showed his disbelief. "He thought no one would question the death of 100 cows involved in a government funded study?"

That was exactly what Freddie had thought. He had initially panicked when investigators first descended on the dairy. He then couldn't believe his luck when the official report blamed the alfalfa. He had been about to file his insurance claim when he heard the FBI was in town to look into things.

"What an idiot," Felix exclaimed. "What did you end up charging him with?"

"Nothing." Rachel answered shortly. She sighed at the startled looks on Felix and Hood's faces.

"There wasn't anything to charge him with." Lisa explained glumly. "Freddie's half-owner of the dairy, seems it's no crime to kill your own livestock. When he saw the way the wind was blowing, he backed off his story; claimed that the wood preservative got into the feed by accident. Rico backed him up."

"But what about the insurance fraud?" Jacob asked.

"There was no fraud. Freddie had a legal right to take out that policy. Since he never filed a claim, there was never an attempt to defraud the company." Rachel answered.

"Do you mean that, that, cretin, is going to get off scot free?" Jacob was indignant.

"I'm not so sure about that." Lisa was thoughtful. "Rico was muttering about Freddie learning to stand on his own two feet when they left the station." She smiled. "I have a feeling Freddie may be in for quite a surprise real soon."

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It was getting late by the time Rachel pulled the SUV into the parking lot of their hotel. After leaving the hospital, she and Hood had stopped to pick up Chinese take-out. They had both agreed that they couldn't face one more night of pizza. Grabbing the bag from the backseat, Rachel led the way into the hotel.

"I don't know why we couldn't have had dinner with Felix in the hospital," Jacob grumbled as Rachel cleared his room. "Or at the very least, why we had to have take-out. We could have eaten at the restaurant."

"We were fifth wheels at the hospital," Rachel replied. "It was obvious Felix and Lisa wanted some privacy." She took the bag of food from his hands. "And we always have take-out in the field, so what's the problem."

"I was hoping," Jacob ground out. "To postpone the prospect of another frustrating night in this hotel room with you."

Rachel dumped the bag, her badge, and her weapon on the small table. She smiled slightly. "Hmm, hadn't thought of it like that." She arched an eyebrow at Hood. "Did you remember to secure the door behind you?"

Jacob merely sighed and turned to the door. He flipped the deadbolt and latched the chain. He turned to find Rachel directly behind him. She pushed him against the door and pressed her body into his. She wound one arm around his neck, and threaded the fingers of her other hand through his hair. She pulled his head down and kissed him hard.

His arms went around her automatically, pulling her into him even closer. He groaned with pleasure as her mouth opened to his and their tongues touched, as they explored each other's mouths. His hands moved down to her ass, pulling her up against him. Jacob could feel his cock hardening as Rachel unbuttoned his shirt and ran her hands up his chest and around his neck.

"I thought this was a bad idea." Jacob whispered into Rachel's ear as he nuzzled her neck.

"Hmm," Rachel laughed softly. "Maybe, but you trying to make me jealous is an even worse idea."

Jacob drew his head back to look at Rachel with astonishment. "What, you're saying it's _my_ fault Gina had a crush on me?"

Rachel smiled up at him. "Please, you think that child worried me?" She pulled his head down and began nibbling on his ear. "I was talking about you claiming to be married to Felix." He shivered at her breath in his ear as she laughed again. "Now that hurt."

"If I knew this is how you'd react, I'd have done it sooner."

Jacob and Rachel stumbled toward the bed . Jacob swept Rachel into his arms as they reached the bed; lying her gently down on it, he shrugged off shirt and lay down beside her. Rachel began to unbutton her shirt, but Jacob stopped her.

He nuzzled her ear as his hands caressed her. "No, let me touch you, let me undress you."

Slowly Jacob unbuttoned Rachel's shirt, his hands cupping her breasts, running down her abdomen. "I've wanted to do this for weeks," he murmured as he slipped her shirt and bra off. His mouth moved downward, tracing a path along her neck and chest.

Rachel moaned as Jacob began licking her breasts, tracing her nipples with his tongue. "Your breasts are perfect, do you know that?" While his mouth was busy with her breasts, Jacob's hands moved down to the zipper on Rachel's pants. He shoved her pants and panties down her hips.

Sitting up, Jacob moved to the foot of the bed. He reached down and removed Rachel's shoes and socks. He lifted one foot to his mouth and pressed a kiss against the arch. He removed her pants and looked down at her. "My god Rachel, you have such a fantastic body." He quickly removed the rest of his clothes and stretched out beside her.

Rachel arms went around Jacob's neck and her leg hooked over his hip as she pressed herself against him, tried to pull him on top of her. "Come inside me baby."

"No, no, no," Jacob whispered into her ear, as he hands roamed over her body. "I'm not ready to come inside you yet. I want to make you come for me a dozen times tonight. I want to feel you come against my hand, in my mouth. I want to hear you scream for me before I put my cock deep inside you."

"Jacob, baby, please, come in me, I need you."

"Soon Rachel, soon." Jacob kissed and licked his way back to her breasts as his hand found its way between her thighs. As he licked her nipples and lightly bit her beasts, his finger rubbed her clit making Rachel squirm and push her hips against his hand.

"Oh god, baby that feels so damn good"

Rachel was whimpering with pleasure, the muscles in her body tensing, her vagina tightening, when Jacob suddenly thrust two fingers inside of her. The feeling of his fingers, the pressure of his thumb on her clit, pushed Rachel over the edge. Tightening her thighs around his hand, Rachel pushed her body into Jacob's murmuring his name over and over as she climaxed.

Rachel had barely recovered when Jacob began his assault on her senses again. He moved between her legs, kissing her hips, running his tongue from one side of her body to the other. His lips moved down her thighs, he licked her scar lightly. He lifted her legs over his shoulders.

He then turned his attention to the soft skin of her inner thighs. He tongue made patterns as Rachel moaned. Her hand twisted in his hair and she tried to move his mouth to her core. Jacob laughed softly as he moved her hand away. "You're so wet, sweetheart, but I think I can get you wetter for me."

Then his mouth was on her, as he gently licked and then sucked on her clit. Rachel arched her hips, writhing on the bed unable to control herself. "Jacob, baby, please, yes, oh please, yes." She murmured over and over.

Jacob's hands were on her ass as he lifted her to him. He could feel the muscles in her ass, her thighs contracting; as she began to climax, he thrust his tongue deep inside her. Rachel gasped at the feeling of his tongue in her as every muscle in her body contracted and released and she was once again overwhelmed with pleasure.

Jacob slid his way up Rachel's hot sweaty body. Pushing her deep into the mattress, he wound his hands in her hair and kissed her, his tongue winding around hers. Rachel's one hand went around his neck, the other hand between their bodies and found his cock.

Rachel rubbed her hand along his cock causing Jacob to groan. "Not so hard, you'll make me come all over you."

"Now, baby, I need you in me now." Wrapping her legs around his hips, Rachel guided Jacob's cock to the entrance of her vagina. Pushing her hips up, she attempted to take him inside her. She whimpered in protest as Jacob held off.

"Slowly, Rachel." Inch by inch, Jacob pushed his cock into her.

Rachel gasped with pleasure as he slid inside her. "Jacob, baby, you're so hard, oh yes, I want to feel you come in me baby."

When he was buried deep within her body, he held still, savoring the feel of Rachel, hot, wet, and tight around him. "You feel so damn good Rachel, so fucking, fucking tight."

Jacob thrust into Rachel slowly at first, quickening the pace of his thrusts as her arousal grew. Rachel moved her knees around his ribs, opening herself up to him, drawing him deeper inside her. Her frantic cries grew higher and less coherent. Her arms were around his chest, her nails digging into his back and as her climax washed over her, she drew blood.

The feel of her muscles contracting around his cock, her arms and legs tightening around his body, brought Jacob to a shuddering climax. Winding his hands in her hair, Jacob held Rachel close as his cock pulsed deep within her, filling her with his hot semen.

They lay together totally spent, their breathing labored, their bodies slick with sweat. Rachel still clung to Jacob; he nuzzled her neck, knowing he should move from on top on her but reluctant to end the moment. "I love you Rachel," he whispered. Rachel could only tighten her hold on him in response.

Rachel finally turned her head to press a kiss on Jacob's cheek. "Sorry about that baby."

"Hmmm?" Jacob rolled onto his back, pulling Rachel along with him. He settled her head on his chest. "For what, making me wait so long? I'm just glad you realized that 'no making love in the field' rule was unnecessary."

Rachel frowned up at him. "I meant for scratching your back. I still say that we can't make love when we're in the field."

Jacob looked around thoughtfully. "Strange, I could have sworn we were still in Sacramento."

"I know where we are. But _technically_ we're not in the field."

"Umm, someone sounds like they're rationalizing." Jacob's nuzzled the top of Rachel's head as his hand stoked her arm.

"No," she insisted. "Look, the case has fallen apart. The cops don't give a damn about us right now. Felix is in the hospital so we don't have to worry about him looking for us." Rachel rubbed her cheek against Jacob's chest. "No one needs us, no one cares about us right now."

Jacob smiled slightly at Rachel's explanation. He still felt she was rationalizing, trying to justify breaking her own rule. But as he enjoyed the results, he wasn't going to argue. He pulled Rachel closer. Sighing with the pleasure of holding her again, he closed his eyes.

"Jacob?"

"Hmmm?"

"The other night, why were you so quick to think I regretted being with you?"

"Oh god, Rachel, I explained that to you already."

"No, no you didn't. You said that you thougth I didn't love you anymore 'cause I didn't want to have sex and I called you Hood. That's hardly an explanation."

Jacob sighed. "It's complicated."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere, so let's hear it."

"I've been in love with you for a long time. Even before you were shot, I knew that you were important to me, that I cared about you. But I always told myself that we were just friends.

When I almost lost you, I had to admit to myself that I loved you. But," he shrugged, ran his fingers through her hair, "I was afraid to say anything. I was afraid that you didn't, or worse, that you couldn't feel the same."

"Why would you think I couldn't be attracted to you?"

"Why would you be? I mean, honestly Rachel, you're a beautiful woman; you could have any man you wanted. And me? Well, I'm kind of awkward in social situations, I get caught up in my work and ignore everything around me, and," Jacob tipped Rachel's face up to his. "I'm so much older than you sweetheart. I was afraid that you'd never see me as anything other than a friend."

"Do you want to know how I see you?" she asked softly. "I see you as the kindest, most compassionate man I've ever known. I see you as intelligent, funny, and," Rachel pulled his head down and kissed him. "I see you as the handsomest and sexiest man I've ever met. That's how I see you."

Jacob smiled slowly. "Really?"

"Umm, and what's this crap about you being too old for me?" Rachel was amused. "You're what? Old enough to be my big brother?"

"No." Jacob frowned. "I'm nearly 13 years older than you. I'm almost a generation older than you. I always figured you thought of me as middle-aged."

"Hardly a generation older."

"Culturally speaking, I mean. Now, genealogically speaking a generation is about 40 to 60 years, but as a cultural construct, a generation is considered to be 15 to 20 years, so…"

Rachel interrupted, "Please, no lecture." She smiled as she ran her hand through his hair. "You're not too old for me, I love the gray in your hair, it makes you look distinguished. But what does this have to do with you thinking I'd changed my mind about us?"

"I guess I couldn't believe my luck. That you did love me, that you wanted me as much as I wanted you. After all, it's not like you gave me any encouragement."

"Ummm," Rachel murmured. "I was like you. To afraid of rejection to say anything. Afraid you'd ask the Director to transfer me if you didn't feel the same. I'm glad you decided to be brave." She sat up. "How come? What made you decide to say something?"

Jacob drew Rachel back to him, began running kisses down her neck. "It seeing you at that dress shop."

"What, the sight of me in a wedding dress made you want to declare your undying love?"

"No, it scared the shit out of me." Jacob smiled at the look on Rachel's face. "It's true. Seeing you in that dress was a shock. It made me feel like I was in the middle of a bad romantic comedy." He tilted his head. "The ones where the guy doesn't realize how much he loves the girl until she announces that she's going to marry another guy."

"But he usually ends up with the girl in those movies."

"We're not in a movie. This is real life, and seeing you in that dress, it made me realize that if I waited too long, if I didn't say something, let you know how I felt about you, it might be too late for me. You might meet someone and fall in love."

Rachel kissed him passionately. "Jacob, that has to be the most romantic thing I've ever heard. But I'm still pissed that you thought I didn't love you anymore."

Jacob rolled his eyes but remained silent. He knew the sound of an un-winnable argument. Instead he kissed Rachel and cuddled her closer to his body.

"I mean it, Jacob…"

"Sweetheart, if you insist on talking right now, I suggest we change the topic."

"What? What do you want to talk about?"

Jacob rolled on top of Rachel and lowered his head to her breasts. "Well," he murmured. "We could discuss these very interesting tan lines. They seem to suggest you spent some time sunbathing in the nude."

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The next morning when Jacob and Rachel arrived at the hospital Felix was up and dressed. He regarded them glumly as they entered his room.

"'Bout time you two got here."

Rachel and Jacob looked at each other in surprise. They weren't used to an unhappy Felix.

"What's the matter Felix? Pissed at your _husband_ for deserting you last night?" Rachel teased.

Felix winced. "Do not remind me of that situation."

"But Felix, honey…" Jacob grinned wickedly.

"Not funny Doc." Felix glared at the scientist. "I mean it, I…"

"What happened to Lisa?" Rachel cut in hastily. "She deserted you too?"

With a final glare for Hood, Felix turned his attention to Rachel. "She got called out for a burglary early this morning." He looked wishful. "Said to pass along her goodbyes, tell you how much she enjoyed working with us."

Jacob and Rachel exchanged a look, eyebrows raised. They silently agreed that further teasing would be out of line.

"Ready to go?" Rachel asked briskly. "I've called the airlines, there are seats available on a flight out at noon, it'll get us back to DC by nine."

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After collecting Felix, they quickly wrapped up the case. Their first stop was the university where Jacob confirmed that Robinson had not only filed a corrected report with the USDA, but had also resigned his position as department chair. They then paid a visit to the dairy. There they found Rico, Gina, and Wyatt deep in discussion on the best way to re-start the project with Gina's alfalfa.

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"Bet you'll be glad when we get home ma'am," Felix said as the plane took off.

Rachel pulled her attention from the magazine she had been idly paging though. "Hmm, why's that Felix?"

"Seeing as you barely got back into town before we got called out." he explained.

Rachel's brow creased in puzzlement. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"I know we're on the road a lot, but what with your vacation and all, it's been awhile since you've been home." The big man shrugged. "I don't know about you, but I always sleep best in my own bed."

"You're right." Rachel smiled. "It will be good to be home. I'm looking forward to sleeping in my bed."

Felix returned her smile and nodded companionably. Pulling out his iPod, he put the buds in his ears and leaned back to enjoy the flight home.

"I'm looking forward to that also." Jacob leaned over to murmur in Rachel's ear.

"Looking forward to what?"

"Sleeping in your bed." Jacob sat back with a slow smile, enjoying the blush that stained Rachel's cheeks.


End file.
